The Last Summer
by RLobinske
Summary: Daria and Jane during the summer after Is It College Yet? They enjoy their remaining free summer before they leave Lawndale for college in Boston. All seven chapters now consolidated.
1. Saving One Last Summer

Disclaimer: Daria and associated characters are owned by MTV. This is fan fiction written for entertainment only. No money or other negotiable currency or goods have been exchanged.  
Original characters and plot copyright Richard J. Lobinske. 2004.

This is the first of the Last Summer series

Richard Lobinske

**Saving One Last Summer**

Summer daylight shining through a gap in the curtains formed a bright slash across a sleeping figure that slowly progressed with the passing of morning toward an auburn haired head. Upon reaching her eyes, the advancing sunlight elicited a soft groan from Daria Morgendorffer and a whispered, "Dammit," as she reached for her glasses. "If it's late enough for that little ray of sunshine, I better move before Helen of Lawndale launches a thousand ships to wake me," Daria muttered as she moved aside the sheet and adjusted the Mark Twain nightshirt she wore.

Looking around the grey padded walls of her room, she paused at the Diane Fossey trophy she had received yesterday at graduation, and allowed a small, proud smile. After years of feeling that few, if any, at Lawndale High ever noticed her work, it was a nice feeling. The smile slid into a slight smirk as she remembered the speech she made up as she walked to the podium, and wished she had pictures of the class reaction. Her smirk dropped to a grimace as, _I wonder what Tom would have said about it,_ crossed her mind unbidden. The lurch in her stomach was followed by a spoken, "And the bastard still hurts like hell," as she started to the door, trying to put the recently ended relationship out of her consciousness.

* * *

Showered, refreshed and dressed in a green t-shirt and jeans tucked into her favorite boots, she was starting to feel ready to face the world, or at least her mother's need to keep her occupied and "engaged with the rest of us." Almost on cue, "Good morning sweetie," drifted up the stairs from her mother, Helen. "Would you like some breakfast?" In a lower tone, she added, "Or would lunch be more appropriate?"

Daria started down the stairs as she replied, "Either is fine, as long as it comes with coffee." In the kitchen, she poured a cup, opened a sugar tart and wandered over to the table.

Her father, Jake, looked up from the newspaper and let loose a cheerful, "Morning Kiddo, how's the first day of freedom feeling?" as she sat down and picked up her section of the paper.

"Much like any other, though I feel the freedom part is going to be short lived," Daria stated with a side glance toward her mother.

"Now Daria, you know how I just don't want you to waste such a valuable time of your life sitting around doing nothing useful," Helen said and narrowed her eyes, "If you're not willing to find a useful activity for the summer, I will just have to find one for you. I'm sure Mr. O'Neal would just love to have you help again."

"Mom, if you do that, I will need a lawyer," was Daria's cross rebuttal. She drew in a deep breath and looked down to continue. "After the college acceptance and rejection ordeal, finals, and the whole breaking up with Tom thing…" as she continued to speak, her shoulders dropped a little more, "…could you please give me some time to work things out before I have to find a useful occupation?" She lifted her eyes to meet her mother's when she finished.

That reminder stopped Helen in mid-stride, and then she turned and sat down next to Daria. "Oh Daria," she said, "I'm so sorry, I know you must still be hurting about Tom, but you need to learn to keep going, even when you don't want to." With her voice again dropping in tone and partially under her breath, she added sadly, "That's what we all have to do." Daria's brow knitted both at the response and the almost predictable ring of Helen's cell phone.

After, "Hi Eric," Daria simply ignored the remaining conversation as her mother stood up and drifted toward the front door. Daria nibbled her breakfast and sipped coffee as she enjoyed the morning paper ritual with her father. After a few minutes, Helen quickly strode past, speaking at the same pace, "Last minute meeting, must go in today anyway, shouldn't be any later than seven, Daria, could you please have the lasagna ready for dinner?" With that, the door closed and the house again fell silent except the occasional rattle of newspaper.

Jake peaked around his paper "Better find something quick, she's still on the warpath over your speech yesterday, something about you not being able to see the bright side of anything." His face changed from care to rage as he shouted "Don't I just know about being told to 'suck it in' and keep going, heard that all the time from the Old Man and Corporal Ellenbogen." As the rant continued, Daria rose and crossed to the dish washer, draining the last of her coffee on the way before depositing it.

"Okay Dad, I get the idea; I'm going over to Jane's," Daria spoke over her shoulder as she made for the front door and passed through.

* * *

Even thought the walk was not far, Daria was glad she chose the t shirt over her regular field jacket. The early afternoon sun and still air was sweltering and Daria looked a bit wilted when Jane Lane opened the door with, "Chateau Lane is open for business."

"Aren't we sounding cheerful for first thing in the afternoon," Daria said as she entered.

"I'll have you know that I have been up and about for hours today," Jane impishly relied. "I found out Gary's Gallery has done so well lately that he opened a small side gallery for original work. So I got up this morning and went to talk to him, and he asked me to display my work on consignment."

Daria's eyes widened slightly in excitement as she heard her friend's opportunity. "That's great. Now you won't have to worry as much about what to do this summer like I do." Daria's words started out matching her excitement, then fell as she thought of another summer of enforced labor.

"So, the double-X packing parental unit is into the summer activity frenzy already, I take it?" Jane said as she led the way upstairs to her room.

"That's putting it lightly, she even threatened 'Okay to Cry Corral' duty again if I don't' find something fast," Daria groused as she dropped onto the bed with her head hanging off the edge.

Pulling a half-consumed tube of cookie dough off a table and pointing the remote at the TV, Jane sat on the bed and proclaimed, "Okay, this requires serious brain food."

As she offered the dough to Daria, the TV announced "Bioengineering lakes with bug droppings to suit their needs, Terraforming Insects, next on _Sick, Sad World_."

Hours later, Daria sat on Jane's bed with her arms folded in front and a look of almost desperation on her face. "Why don't you try something like I worked out?" Jane queried. "Get into some serious writing jags and tell your mother it's practice for your future career. Maybe even send some in and get a little cash out of the deal," she added.

"The idea has merit, but Mom would never go with it, she'd say it was too much like lounging around all summer," Daria sighed. "The only way it could work would be to make it look like a real job." Daria paused with a slight wrinkle of her eyebrows as she thought; then with brightening eyes, said, "Kind of like a free-lance writer. Hmm, this could work after all."

Jane turned and pointed her brush at Daria, "I bet if you set up some kind of schedule to make regular submissions, she just might go for it."

"Careful, that thing's loaded," Daria said as she ducked a small blob of paint slung off the brush, then added after a bit more thought; "Play off her lawyer streak, present it to her as a contract, keep her 'involved' in the process and leave me free to do my writing. I think we have a winner here." Daria allowed a small smile to cross her lips as she finished.

"Great!" exclaimed Jane. "Now that we've solved your problem, maybe you can help me fill out my financial aid forms. You don't think I'm going to able to sell enough at Gary's to pay for BFAC, do you?

Daria said, "Fine, but this is going to require more brain fuel," as she headed to the kitchen with thoughts of more cookie dough on her mind.

* * *

Daria slid a sheet of paper across the table toward her mother. "Here's the deal; I write at least one complete story or poem every two weeks and submit it for publication. The envelope will be filled in your presence and you will deliver said envelope to the post office to avoid any subterfuge on my part. You will sign off on every delivered manuscript. First late delivery will result in a written warning, subsequent late filings will result in loss of allowance for two weeks." Helen viewed the presented contract with a practiced eye as Daria continued, "I get to practice my writing as a freelance author, get practical experience with deadlines and the submission process. With a little luck, get a story or two published and maybe even earn a little money at the same time." Daria could read the growing acceptance on her mother's face and moved in for the _coup de gras. _"As an extra plus, published works will always look good on grad school applications."

Helen laid down the contract with a pleased, proud smile. "This looks agreeable, you have a deal. Just remember, I'm not a pushover as a boss," she said as she signed the contract. "Grad school? Looks like we may need to keep adding to your college fund," Helen continued with further pride that here daughter was already thinking that far ahead.

As Helen made the last comment, Daria thought_, Just a little payback for all your spending on Quinn now_. She reached across the table to retrieve the contract and signed it herself. "Now if you will excuse me, I would like to get to work," Daria said as she rose from the table. She then added, "I hope you realize that it would be a better time-management learning experience for me to set my own hours."

"I like how much initiative you are taking on this project, of course you can set your own schedule, Sweetie," Helen said, just as she realized what that meant. Daria continued up the stairs as Helen quietly said to herself, "How does she do that?"

Daria settled into her chair with a feeling of satisfaction and release. Practiced mouse clicks opened the word processor and started a new file. She picked up the small steno pad next to the keyboard and flipped through pages until one brought her trademark smile, "That should do nicely," she said and started typing:

_The high energy laser slipped between a gap in the curtains and slashed across the bed toward the sleeping figure. As the beam neared the auburn haired head, Melody Powers rolled out of bed with a loud "Dammit!" as she reached for her pistol._

* * *

Thanks to Steven Galloway, Roentgen, Isa Yo Yo, Parker-man, Ranger Thorne, The Angst Guy and Mahna Mahna at PPMB for comments and critical suggestion

May 2004  
Rev. Jan. 2005


	2. Shifts In Mood

Disclaimer: Daria and associated characters are owned by MTV. This is fan fiction written for entertainment only. No money or other negotiable currency or goods have been exchanged.

This is the second story in the Last Summer series.

Richard Lobinske

**Shifts in Mood**

Daria sat on her bed reading a black covered spiral notebook with "1998 Vol. 2" written in neat letters on the cover label. Beside the bed was a small fireproof lockbox holding a stack of similar notebooks and several disk copies of valuable computer files. She wore a black t shirt and blue shorts and was barefoot, having not bothered to change from the clothes she slept in. After a bad night resulting from her residual feelings for Tom, she had decided to stay in her room and deconstruct the relationship by reviewing her diaries. Daria had reached the entry she made after returning home from Jane's after the fire and stopped, thinking, at one line.

_Trent told me, "Come on, Daria. I'm a musician. I'm very sensitive to shifts in mood."_

_He certainly hit that one right, not exactly what you would call 'oblivious' about things_, she thought. Feelings about Tom were replaced by the memory of emotions she hadn't felt for well over a year. She then reached into the lockbox and brought out "1996 Vol. 3" and flipped to the entry about the trip to Alternapalooza.

"_Daria if there's one thing I know about Trent, it's that he's oblivious," Jane reassured me._

She picked up "1997 Vol. 1" and read.

_Right after, Jane said, "Told him to tell anyone who dropped by that I was out running. What a surprise, he forgot."_

_Then, I let her know. "No, he didn't."_

Daria set the book down and stared up at the ceiling. "If he was able to notice that Tom and I had feelings for each other so easily, or that I was just the person to talk to Jane over the Tommy Sherman thing, why did he so completely miss my crush on him? Or did he?" she spoke as her eyes flashed wider.

* * *

Trent groped for the phone, grabbed the duck head and placed it to his ear; realized things were not quite working and maneuvered it to the proper orientation, "Hello?"

"Hi Trent"

"Hey Daria, Janey's not here today, she's covering over at Gary's while he's with his kid."

"That's okay; I wanted to talk to you anyway, but not over the phone. Would you mind coming over?"

"Must be important; sure, I'll be over in a bit. Though not too quick, I just woke up, late practice."

"Or early," came the familiar refrain. "I'll have the coffee waiting for you, thanks. Bye."

"Hmm, Bye." Trent slowly shook his head as he got up and stumbled around the room for something clean to wear.

* * *

Daria had changed to her black skirt and boots, but left the same shirt on. After she let him in, Trent followed Daria to the kitchen, where two cups were already waiting. She gestured to one chair next to coffee, and sat in another by her tea. After Trent tried his coffee, Daria started, "Trent, I…um…uh…kind of need to talk to you…about something."

"Hey, its okay, you can talk to me. I haven't heard you at a loss of words like that in a long time."

Daria placed both hands flat on the table, closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths. She opened her eyes and said, "Best to say it straight out. Did you know how much of a crush I had on you? Back when I was a sophomore." Daria felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her just by saying that.

"Man, I was wondering if you were ever going to bring that up." Trent gently said.

"Well?"

"Um, yeah, I did."

_I'm going have to drag this out a piece at a time,_ crossed Daria's mind. She took a sip of tea and said, "When did you first notice?"

"When we tried to go to Alternapalooza."

After several moments of silence, Daria prompted, "What tipped you off?"

"You hardly said anything. I knew you weren't like that from overhearing you talk with Jane." Trent rested his chin on his hand before continuing, "Sitting by the road, I felt a connection, like you actually understood me"

"I felt that too. Still is a special memory for me, despite the bump on the head, bee sting, peanut butter butt, and duct-taped glasses; it ended up being something I'm glad I did," Daria replied over her tea. "So what did you think about it?"

"It felt cool that you were interested in me. It seemed fairly harmless."

Daria added to her silent comments, _Fairly harmless, sounds almost like 'Mostly Harmless'. Sure know how to make an impression._

Trent dropped his hand from his chin and looked straight at Daria, "Until."

"Until what?" Daria jerked her attention directly back to him.

"When I really noticed how pretty you were. The day we stopped by Axl's and you got pierced."

Daria blushed slightly as, _Damn, I'm blushing again_, slipped among her thoughts.

"Kind of scary how easy it was."

"I still can't believe I let you talk me into that."

"Running into Monique didn't help either; being in the same room with both of you really threw me off."

"Um, yeah."

"I kept thinking how 16 and 21 was bad news, you hadn't dated anyone before, and how I could have taken advantage you, it really spooked me."

"I guess I really should thank you for being so thoughtful," Daria said as she began to realize what had actually happened to Trent.

"I hoped you would realize things and lose interest in me."

"Sorry I was a little too dense for that. While I'm at it, I never did thank you for steering away from the stupid nut stand after you realized I was hiding in the back."

* * *

Helen drove down Glen Oaks drive as she talked on the cell phone.

"Hi Eric, I'm almost there now…Yes, it is so fortunate that Daria suggested I keep backup disks at home…Thank you Eric; she really is a wonderful daughter…I better let you get back to work; bye now." She clicked it off sharply.

"I wouldn't even be making this trip if you hadn't gotten the entire network infected with that computer virus. Then you 'borrowed' my backup disks to use for God knows what when you ran out," Helen bitterly remarked to herself. "Although, I'm glad Daria made that suggestion. It probably saved me a month of work, and saved the firm who knows how many thousands of dollars. Not that anyone there would notice."

As she pulled into the driveway and parked beside the blue Plymouth, she thought, "Jane's here today, they must be busy with their communal creating. It's still fascinating how those two can separately create such wonderful things and carry on a completely unrelated conversation at the same time. Daria has been so good about keeping up her writing and making those submissions, I'll try to keep quiet so I don't disturb them."

Helen quietly opened the door and heard voices in the kitchen. As she gently closed it, she recognized Trent say, "You're welcome, didn't want to embarrass you."

"So how do you explain walking into my room and lying down on my bed to talk while I stood around in my nightshirt? Remember, when you and Jane were hiding out from the Lane family invasion?"

Helen's interest perked up as she moved a little closer to hear.

"Yeah, I guess there were times when I was oblivious."

"So, did Monique have something to do with that?"

"Things were going downhill and I didn't want to think about it. Talking with you always made me feel better.

"Oh."

It didn't occur to me that you would be embarrassed, sorry." Trent gave Daria a worried look. "Did you see me leaving with Monique?"

"To be honest, that was almost as painful as watching Tom drive away the last time I saw him," Daria quietly said.

Trent dropped his gaze, "Damn."

Daria forced herself on. "I thought you really couldn't be interested in me and felt the crush was over. Believe it or not, Quinn actually helped in her own way, though I don't know how I would have gotten through the night without Jane. When you were about to go home, I was actually feeling secure with you as a friend, when you made that comment."

"_Too bad you're not a few years older, huh? I could take you out."_

"It was like the floor fell out under my psyche and the crush was back."

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but that was one of the most stupid, thoughtless things I've ever said."

"So why say it?"

Trent shifted in his chair and continued, "Guess my head wasn't screwed on straight, even by my standards." He laughed and coughed a bit before going on. "There you stood, as pretty as ever to anyone with a lick of sense, brilliant, funny and caring. I was weak for a moment and said it."

"So you really did feel something toward me?"

"That's why I stayed clear of you for a while; didn't want to get your hopes up. I was also trying to figure a way out without messing things up even more."

"So why did you ask me to go to the gig in Fremont?" Daria inquired.

"Hoping we could be around each other with other people there. You know, keep anything from happening."

"Probably a good thing I didn't go with you. With my mouth, getting arrested probably would've been worse. Besides, who would Jane have called for bail?"

"Glad you drove all that way for us"

"It was an eye opening trip, to say the least. But what about that multimedia project that Jane and I asked you to write some music for?"

"Thought it would be cool to help both of you."

"I know what you said at Pizza Prince afterward, but what really happened?"

"I was trying to get the music together, but I was still worried about how you felt, so I was confused. Before I knew it, I missed your deadline. You know the rest."

"So it was your concern for me that kept you from finishing. You let both of us think you were just a slacker and took all the blame."

Trent's voice dropped to almost a whisper. "At least you finally did get over your crush, and all it cost me was a little humiliation."

Daria was also quiet. "By then, I was also starting to feel that things wouldn't work out, for about the same reasons you said they wouldn't. So when you didn't have the music ready, I was disappointed in you, but not really hurt as much as it would have earlier. I knew that there would never be anything romantic, but hoped to stay your friend." She went on a little stronger. "That, I must say, you were, only a good friend would take the blame like that. After Jane and I patched things up after last summer, you felt more like a big brother. A big brother that cares, respects, and trusts me."

"Now that you mention it, I know what you mean, kind of feels like I have twin little sisters. Wonder if I should tell Mom and Dad about the extra daughter." Trent grinned.

"I don't think Amanda or Vincent would notice, but don't even try to get me adopted by the rest of your siblings, they rate too high even on my weird-o-meter."

Trent laughed and coughed. "Good one, Daria."

"All that time, Jane and I just thought you were being clueless," Daria said with a slight smirk, which changed to a genuine smile. "While in your own way, you were being very much the gentleman." With a little admiration, Daria continued, "That must have been difficult for you; to act so detached realizing just how I felt and having Jane trying to get us together."

"Didn't matter, just the right thing to do."

"Thank you, it was the right thing, and the older me thinks that much more highly of you because of it." Daria rose from her chair, went over to Trent and gently kissed him on the cheek. "So I started out with a teenage crush on you, found a good friend, and in the end, ended up with a big brother instead."

"Kind of cool how things worked out. Guess I should get going. Think we have practice today."

Helen quickly and quietly exited the house, went back to her SUV, opened the door and waited.

"Thanks also for coming over to talk, it really meant a lot," Daria said.

"No problem. You're still one of the coolest people I know." Trent smiled, turned, and walked through the door.

Daria watched as he left and thought, _Didn't solve the original problem, but it does feel good to know where things really are. I hope he does find his happiness._ She cleaned up the table and headed back upstairs to her room. "Now back to deconstructing Tom, though I am feeling more like I did the right thing."

* * *

Just as he closed the house door, Helen closed hers to get his attention, said, "Hi, Trent," and walked toward him as he aimed for his car.

A thoughtful Trent looked up. "Hello Mrs. Morgendorffer."

As she reached him, she placed her hand on his shoulder to stop him and said, "I heard what was just said in there, I also want to thank you for being such a gentleman. You proved yourself to be a man of good integrity, and I am proud to consider you like a son, just as Daria is proud to feel that you're like a brother." She whispered, "Don't worry, I won't say a thing, I don't want to embarrass her either."

"Thanks Mrs. Morgendorffer. She's a special lady, felt right to treat her that way."

Helen watched as he started the car and drove away. After a couple more minutes, she walked in the front door and called up toward the stairs, "Oh Daria, I'm just stopping in for a couple minutes to get those backup disks. It's a long story, but I'm glad you talked me into making them. I Hope your having a nice day."

* * *

Quotes are from the following episodes:

_Fire_: by Peggy Nicoll  
_The Road Worrier_: by Anne D. Bernstein  
_The Misery Chick_: by Glenn Eichler  
_Lane Miserables_: by Anne D. Bernstein

Thanks to Deceloraptor, Kristen Bealer, renfield1969 for comments and MJPollard for critical suggestions.

May 2004  
Rev. January 2005


	3. Succeeding In Your World

Disclaimer: Daria and associated characters are owned by MTV. This is fan fiction written for entertainment only. No money or other negotiable currency or goods have been exchanged.

This is the third story in the Last Summer series.

Richard Lobinske

**Succeeding in Your World**

After the mail carrier turned and walked away, Daria Morgendorffer closed the door with her foot. In her hands was a large box with a registered letter balanced on top. She quickly carried the stack to the sofa and set it down. She removed the letter and propped it on the coffee table to be easily seen. Turning her attention to the box, she cut the twine with a pen knife and slit through the tape closing the outer paper wrapping. "A package from Aunt Amy, this should be entertaining." With the outer paper removed, she read the printed label on the box:

"Amy Barksdale Dorm Survival Kit"

"Useful, and possibly quite deadly" Daria smiled as she unfolded the included letter.

_**Daria,**_

_**Congratulations on your graduation and the academic award. I wish I could've heard your speech, sounds like you got in some good ones. Nice to hear you've been able to concentrate on your writing this summer. Tell Quinn I said "Hi" and your mother that I will be thinking of her while I'm in the Bahamas. But, now it's time to look forward to sharing your personal space with a complete stranger who probably has the manners of an adolescent baboon, and possibly the hygiene to match. Let's not even think about her libido yet. Here's something to help you get through the trauma.**_

_**Amy**_

On a separate sheet of paper, Daria read:

_**Dorm Survival Kit Contents:  
**__**Eye shades  
**__**White noise generator ear covers  
**__**Nose plugs  
**__**Book light  
**__**Hot plate  
**__**Sauce pan, lid and serving spoon  
**_**_Table knife, fork and spoon  
_"**_**1001 Dorm Recipes for Hot Plate, Microwave and Toaster Oven, Revised Edition"  
**__**2 Bath towels, 2 hand towels, 2 wash cloths  
**__**Single cup water heater  
**__**Box of English Breakfast tea  
**__**1 Gross No. 2 pencils  
**_**_Electric pencil sharpener  
__Travel mug with lid_**

"Why do I have a feeling that there is a story behind each item?" She mused going through the box contents. "Better get this up to my room before I leave for Jane's."

* * *

"Hello, anybody home?" Helen Morgendorffer called as she came in the door early that evening.

"I'm in the kitchen, Helen," Jake Morgendorffer called from the kitchen. Helen was concerned when she noticed his red apron when he poked his head around the corner and said, "Just fixing up some Curry Chicken for dinner."

Helen walked to the kitchen as she spoke. "Jake, where's the girls?"

"Daria's over at her friend's, Quinn went to the mall." Jake pointed to a couple of notes posted on the refrigerator. "Daria also left a note that you have a registered letter on the coffee table."

Helen walked back through the empty living room and picked up the letter. "State Bar Association? Dammit, what the hell did I do this time?"

* * *

The television in Jane's room blared, "They hitched a ride in a container of old tires. Insect Illegal Aliens, _Next on Sick, Sad World_."

The cordless phone resting on the television rang; Jane looked up from her painting, set the paint brush and palette down and picked up the phone. "Lane's Jail and Bail."

Helen shook her head slowly, "Hi Jane, may I speak with Daria please?"

"I'll see what I can do about prying her away from the laptop." Covering the mouthpiece as she passed the phone to Daria, she said, "The Mommadorffer requests your auditory presence."

Daria gave a subdued cringe at the pun before accepting the phone. "Hi Mom…Getting some writing done, don't worry, deadline's tomorrow…I was planning on having pizza with Jane tonight…Guess I can change plans, let me check."

Daria covered the handset and asked, "Mind if I take a raincheck on pizza tonight? Mom's called a mandatory dinner assembly for some kind of important announcement."

"With how excited your mom sounded, I think you better be there. Though based on prior experience, you're probably dreading the announcement as much as I am."

"You can say that again. Thanks Jane, I owe you one."

Into the telephone, Daria said, "Mom, I'm on my way home right after I save everything and shut down the computer."

* * *

Once Helen had the family settled (or as close as settled as they get), she held up the letter. "I have wonderful news."

Daria remarked, "The bar association is replacing all lawyers with robots?"

"Daria, even your sarcasm isn't going to bother me tonight." Helen was ecstatic and wasn't bothered by her daughters comment. "The State Bar Association requested that I present their Lifetime Achievement Award to Ms. Carol Murphey."

Interest piqued, Daria asked, "The same Ms. Murphey who has been one of the leading women's rights activists in the state for the last forty years?"

"Yes dear, that's her. This is a very important opportunity for me to make an impression before the entire Bar Association. This will also supply some nice outside pressure to the firm to make me a partner. The dinner is two weeks from tomorrow. It is very important to me to have my family in attendance." During the last sentence, she flashed slightly narrowed eyes at both Quinn and Daria.

Quinn whined, "Mo-om, I have dates then. Don't you want me to follow through on my commitments?"

"Quinn, ordinarily I would agree, but this is a very special event for me, please ask your young friends to reschedule. Make sure you do it quickly, that will make things a little easier. I won't take no for answer."

"Ohhh. You know how much this could damage my popularity?" Quinn left the table and stalked up the stairs_. Time to control the damage and not argue. When Mom gets that voice, you just can't win. I can't believe I'm starting to take clues from Daria_, Quinn thought as she entered her room.

Daria was staring into the infinity beyond the kitchen wall. Helen's attention was next turned toward her. "I suppose you have something planned, also?"

Daria shook her head slightly as she exited her contemplation. "Um, no. I want to go."

"Oh, really?" Helen said, with a note of distrust.

"I admire Ms. Murphey's writings and she has an interesting view on life. I want to meet her."

"Oh Honey, that's wonderful. I'll make sure you have a chance to see her. Since you didn't go to your prom, it'll also be nice to see you in a formal gown for a change. Go ahead and use your new credit card and I will cover the cost."

"Formal gown?" was Daria's weak reply.

* * *

Later that evening, Quinn faced her sister in the hall between their rooms, hands in the air in frustration. "Daria, I want to help you."

"I know you do, and you don't intend any malice over it. But if I let you help, everything will be your decision. I just can't do that."

"Why not? You would look good, and even you might learn something about being fashionable."

"Can't I have little pride?"

"What do you mean?"

"Last summer, I watched you maneuver Mom into getting you a tutor. Smooth trick by the way. You worked hard all summer to learn from David, and you kept at it to bring your grades up last school year."

"So what does that have to do with me helping you shop for some decent clothes?"

Daria sighed, "You went from your world of fashion and appearance and successfully charged straight into my world of learning. You did that on your own with no more than a couple of books and a little advice from me. Now, it's kind of a matter of pride to me to see if I can successfully go into your world, if only for a brief appearance."

Quinn let a slightly smug smile, "So, you're jealous. I've done something you haven't been able to do."

Daria gave a resigned glare. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're right. I also need to learn how to make myself presentable for some occasions. There are times when Lenny Bruce was right. 'Time to grow up and sell out.' I'll learn that a lot better if I make the choices."

Quinn dropped the smirk and continued seriously, "At least you're finally learning that. You're right though, if I go with, it will be my vision for what you should look like, and not yours. Just please let me at give you some starting advice."

"Deal. I'm never going to like shopping much, so I want something that I can use for a long time."

Quinn smiled broadly and spoke rapidly. "Daria, that's a good idea. You're never going to be able to keep up with current fashion, so we'll go with the classics. That'll look best for you anyway. So, first thing we do is avoid Cashman's; they focus on breaking fashion. Besides, you might run into somebody I know there. We need to get you to a proper boutique for a tailored gown. I know just the place downtown." Quinn continued on as a look of impending doom spread across Daria's face.

* * *

The next morning, a sleepy-eyed Jane mumbled at the forbidding, backlit shape standing in the threshold, "Hmmmrph?"

"Good morning, oh Artist Extraordinaire," Daria chirped using her "Quinn" voice.

"I'm still dreaming." Jane squinted and leaned forward in confusion. "Or is it a nightmare?"

Returning to her normal voice, "I bring offerings of liquid caffeine." Pushing a six-pack of Bolt Cola into Jane's hand, Daria deadpanned, "You're going to need it."

A short time later, two empties sat on the kitchen table. Jane was attacking a cinnamon roll with great enthusiasm and chasing with a third can. "Now, what brings you over so early, and why were you channeling the Duchess of Doubtful Taste?"

"I need your help."

"Hmm, so what else is new?"

"To go clothes shopping."

Jane glared and downed the remaining cola, grabbed a fourth can, pulled the tab and started on it.

"For a formal gown."

Jane suddenly coughed, but refrained from loosing any of the precious caffeine. She backed away with a frightened look and said, "Daria, you're scaring me."

"Mom is presenting at an awards ceremony for the State Bar Association, attendance has been declared mandatory, and the dress code is formal."

"And you couldn't find some way to avoid it?"

"I didn't really try."

By then, Jane had backed to the kitchen counter and rested her hand on a knife handle.

Seeing Jane's distress, Daria slowly raised her hands and said, "Please move away from the knife, I have not been replaced by a pod and there are no electrodes, to my knowledge, implanted in any part of my anatomy. Mom is presenting a Lifetime Achievement Award to Carol Murphey. I like her writings and want to meet her. This looks like the best chance I will ever have."

"Okay for now, but I'll be keeping an eye on you."

* * *

The two friends found the recommended boutique without much difficulty. Daria was dressed in a grey t-shirt and green shorts, Jane followed in one of her black v-necks and red shorts, sans the black tights in deference to the summer heat. After a brief discussion of what Daria was in need of, the well-dressed fortyish seamstress led Daria behind a screen to a small pedestal. "Please step up." Turning to Jane, she said, "Please wait on the other side of the screen."

Daria stood on the platform, while Jane sat on the other side of a screen, sketching an image of Daria as Scarlet O'Hara.

"Miss, you seem a little nervous, ever have a fitting before?" The seamstress said, while taking measurements and recording them in a small notepad.

"Only when I was a bridesmaid a couple years ago. Not one of my favorite experiences, a burlap sack probably would have fit better. Hopefully I've added a little more to my 'feminine attributes' since then to make a better fit."

Jane laughed and said, "That way you won't have to put up with cracks about not having any hips."

The seamstress looked toward the screen Jane was behind, "What kind of idiot would say that? This young lady has the graceful, slim hips that a lot of models would kill for."

Daria looked down in shock at the compliment; then added, "Just the old hag that fitted me for that bridesmaid gown."

The seamstress shook her head, "It takes a more subtle hand to get a good fit to hips like yours, only a hack would try to blame your hips for her lack of skill.

"A model's hips huh?" Jane quipped.

"I will grind up your body and sell it to the high school cafeteria."

The seamstress blanched at the suggestion.

Hours later, a fatigued Daria and still bemused Jane exited the store. Daria looked to her friend and said, "I didn't know the human body could be measured so many ways. I also can't believe the price. Sure glad Mom is picking up the bill on this one; I wouldn't want to have to be paying for it through my senior year of college."

"Just think, now all we have left is to find you some shoes and some jewelry. I take it Axl's and the Funky Doodle are out the question?" Jane's speed and reflexes paid off when Daria's backhand sailed harmlessly over her head.

* * *

After two days of shopping and one week of waiting for the alterations to be complete, everything was together, though the distraction required some deft negotiations for a special commission to avoid being late on submitting her next story.

Daria waited until the night of the dinner before she hazarded to put the entire set together. Looking into the small mirror in her closet, Daria thought, "I guess it looks okay." She went to the door and stopped to build up courage to step out. Hearing Quinn moving the hall, Daria took a deep breath, closed her eyes and pulled the door.

Opening her eyes, she saw her sister in a delicately detailed, fashionable sleeveless blue gown with a moderately low cut neckline and matching shoes. She had perfectly styled and set hair, set off with gold earrings, bracelet and necklace. Daria had to admit that her sister looked like a young princess.

Quinn took a couple moments to realize that it was her sister in the doorway. Daria wore a black silk gown with clean, flowing lines that accented a slim, petite and graceful figure. Over the gown was a small, open, black velvet jacket with long sleeves closed by small silver buttons. Roses were embroidered on the jacket in black-green and appeared as fleeting, shadowy shapes with changing light. The only jewelry was a slim, silver necklace that rested just above the modest, round neckline of the gown. From the center of the necklace, a single black star sapphire glinted. The tips of soft leather, low heeled boots appeared under the edge of the gown. Though recently trimmed and a bit more carefully brushed, her familiar auburn hair looked perfect with the gown, along with her glasses. Quinn quickly recovered her composure and said, "Wow, Daria. You really do clean up well."

"Thanks, your enthusiasm is overwhelming," Daria said, self-consciously comparing of her simple ensemble to Quinn's complex attire.

"Really Daria, you do look great. Don't take my word for it, let's go downstairs. You make an entrance and see." Quinn motioned for Daria to go first, and then followed several seconds behind. When Daria reached the bottom of the stairs, Quinn called, "Dad, how does Daria look?"

Jake stood up and turned to look at Daria, "Hey Kiddo, the new…" his face went ashen and he slumped back to the sofa behind him.

"Dad? Are you all right?" Daria said with concern as she rushed to Jake.

"Daddy?" Quinn added as she followed Daria.

Jake stirred and looked at Daria with a note of sadness in his eyes. "Don't worry Kid…." he paused and swallowed before continuing, "Uh, Daria. I'm okay; just realized that my little girl isn't a girl anymore.

Helen peered around the corner from the kitchen. Quinn looked like a teen model. Beside her was a timeless and elegant lady that she realized was Daria. Helen sighed in agreement with her husband. "Daria, you look wonderful."

Daria quietly said, "Thanks," as she tried to understand the looks on her parent's faces.

Catching herself, Helen looked toward her other daughter, "Quinn that is such a pretty dress you have, too."

"Thanks Mom. See Daria, you do look great in that dress." Quinn continued under her breath, "I don't believe it, what can't you do?"

* * *

The ceremony had all the appeal of a carefully catered event that had no thought given to the people who would actually attend. Daria whispered to her sister, "Quinn, I think I would rather have Dad's 'Kitchen Sink Stew' than this fiberglass salmon."

"Ewww. Can't I just skip both and have some carrot sticks instead?" Quinn whispered back.

"Much to my surprise, I may have to agree with you on that."

The association president, in a slightly oversized tuxedo, announced, "To present our Lifetime Achievement Award, the senior associate of Vitale, Davis, Horowitz, Riordan, Schrecter & Schrecter; Mrs. Helen Morgendorffer."

Helen approached the podium, adjusted the microphone and began, "Thank you Mr. President. It is my great privilege to discuss a woman who has provided this association with forty years of leadership in civil and women's rights."

While the speech continued, Daria watched the reactions of the crowd focused on her mother. Quinn was toying with some indescribable object on her plate while maintaining eye contact with the teenage boy at the next table. Jake sat upright with a look of pride and pleasure on his face. Expectedly, most of the younger attendees were showing boredom and restlessness, but a large majority of the adults listed intently to the presentation.

A distinguished woman in her seventies, Carol Murphey accepted the plaque from Helen and stepped to the podium. "I will keep this brief so you can go back to your synthetic salmon and plastic potatoes. Thank you Mrs. Morgendorffer for that wonderful introduction. My thanks also to the State Bar for this recognition. Though the recognition should go more to those clients I represented. They are the ones the courage to ask to be treated right. I only provided the path to follow. Now, a couple of thoughts that helped to keep me going over the years. Keep true to your ideals and true to yourself. Finally, if your new clothes feel drafty, you shouldn't have bought them from the emperor."

After the presentation, there was a steady stream of visitors congratulating Helen on the speech and making various comments about her not being a partner. Jake was happily mingling with any and all who would shake his hand. Not surprising, Quinn had vanished into a gaggle of teenage boys brought along by their parents.

Daria was embarrassed to find herself the center of attention among a group of college age and older men. To one unsteady young man, she was directing, "For some reason, I don't find your offer to be appealing. Perhaps it is your deeply sincere face, overabundance of charm and alluring cologne, but I just don't' think a midnight boat tour is for me."

A hand was placed on Daria's shoulder and she heard an older, feminine voice, "Cynicism and Sarcasm, not just a philosophy, a way of life."

She turned to see Carol Murphey standing behind with a gentle smirk on her face. With eyes widened in a plea for help, Daria angled her eyes back and slightly nodded her head toward the small crowd of loose Y chromosomes. Carol placed her arm over Daria's shoulder and gave a cool, "Please excuse us boys, we have much to talk about," to dismiss the waiting crowd. As they walked away, she said to Daria, "Helen tells me that you were her speechwriter."

Helen slightly chuckled to herself as she watched one of the matrons of the law profession and her eldest deep in conversation. "With their attitudes, I just knew the two of them would get along." She gently shook her head and quietly said, "If only I could get her into law school."

* * *

"Sandi, I am so glad you're home. Could you look at something with me quickly?" Linda Griffin put a videotape marked 'Bar Assoc. Award Ceremon. Cam. 2' in the VCR and pressed play. The playback showed Helen Morgendorffer walking away from the podium to her table. "The reporter said that Helen was there with her family, I recognize Jake and your friend Quinn, but who is the lady in black, the notes say its Helen's daughter, but I've never seen her before." Linda turned to put away her purse while her daughter looked at the video.

Sandi scrutinized the screen closely, her jaw slowly dropping as recognition dawned on her. Linda heard a muffled 'thud', and turned back to see her daughter lying on the carpet.

"Sandi?"

* * *

Thanks to uzurpator, Lawndale Stalker, Steven Galloway, Greystar, Mahna Mahna, Brother Grimace, Ranger Thorne, Kristen Bealer, and Hiergargo at PPMB for comments and suggestions. Thanks for all the ideas for the survival kit, but if I included all of them, Amy would have to ship the box FOB.

June 2004  
Revised January 2005


	4. Out Of The Frying Pan

Disclaimer: Daria and associated characters are owned by MTV. This is fan fiction written for entertainment only. No money or other negotiable currency or goods have been exchanged.

This is the fourth story in the Last Summer series.

Richard Lobinske

**Out of the Frying Pan**

Quinn Morgendorffer, Sandi Griffin, Stacy Rowe, and Tiffany Blum-Deckler sat around the Morgendorffer sofas before a bountiful spread of carrot sticks, celery stalks, fat-free popcorn and diet soda. Sandi lightly rubbed the painful bump on the side of her head. "Quinn, do you mean to tell me that your geeky sister finally learned to dress herself presentably, just to talk to another brain?"

"Well, it was the only way she could get into the banquet. I guess some people just have twisted motivations."

"But, weren't there any boys there?" Tiffany slowly said, "Shouldn't that be reason enough?"

Stacy piped in quickly, "You said you met some really cute guys there, didn't your sister even meet any?"

Quinn slowly shook her head, "Daria had probably a dozen college students following her, and could have wrapped each one around her finger. Instead, she wanders off with that Ms. Murphey for the whole rest of the evening." Quinn followed with the thought, _Leaving them to wander over and bother me. I can see why she wanted a change of company, each one of those college boys made Upchuck look like a boy scout._

Sandi imperiously added, "Well, you can only accomplish so much at one time, at least you were able to get her into some decent clothes for a change. We will just have to teach her how to act around boys later. Oh, Quinn, next time, you really should try to work on her hair and makeup."

"Like you said, we can only do so much at one time." Under her breath she said, "Yeah, you try to put makeup on her, I like having my arms still attached to my shoulders."

"That minimal accessory look was so right for your sister; you are such a genius Quinn." Stacy said with a hint of envy.

"Thanks Stacy, but I really…"

Tiffany slightly tilted her head, "Wait, wasn't she seeing that Tom guy, he was cute."

"Tiffany, Daria broke up with him just before the end of school." Quinn answered.

"So, is he available?"

"He may be available, but I don't think he's your type," Daria said as she walked down the stairs. She had on a dark blue buttoned shirt tucked into her black skirt and carried her laptop in its case. "He has a brain. You wouldn't want to get that kind of reputation, would you?"

"Ewwww, a brain. Now way, he looks way to good to have a brain."

Daria tilted her head back and gazed upward briefly, then turned to her sister, "Quinn, I'm going over to Jane's this afternoon and I won't be home for dinner. Please let Mom know or only order for three when you get the pizza delivered. For your own good, I wouldn't let Dad near the kitchen; he's reading _1001 New Ideas for Kimchee _again." Daria exited the front door quickly without waiting for a response. _Okay, I am getting better, I was able to discuss Tom without wanting to throw up_, she thought as she started for Casa Lane.

* * *

Four blocks from her destination, Daria heard the distinctive rumble of a blue Plymouth pulling up beside her. Jane leaned across the seat and called, "Hey Morgendorffer, hop in. _Cubist Holiday on Ice_ sold at Gary's and I cleared five hundred, pizza is on me today."

"Count me in," Daria said as she entered the car. "Five hundred? So, now I know what will get you out of bed before noon."

"Daria, five hundred would get Trent out of bed before noon," Jane replied as she accelerated toward Pizza Prince.

"Only if you can first wake him up enough to comprehend what it is."

"Oh, yeah, you've got a point there. By the way, heard anything back yet on your submissions?"

"That's it, cheer me up. I got my second official rejection yesterday. Now that I have a real history of rejection, I can call myself a writer," Daria said with a hint of frustration.

"Um, sorry to hear that. But at least you made a splash on the society page yesterday."

"I will kill you, bring you back as a zombie, dress you in pink taffeta, and send that picture to the society page."

"Come on girl, you looked good."

Daria quietly grumbled, "Thanks. Now, can we change the subject."

"Alright then, did you get to meet the woman of the hour?"

"She ended up rescuing me from the clutches of a herd of college-age hormones. That's one thing I don't look forward to this fall. There appears to be a certain subspecies of human that inhabit college campuses that make the Ruttheimer gene look tasteful."

"Daria, we're going for pizza, don't make me lose my appetite. So, did the hormone herd descend upon your adoring sister?"

"Like a plague of locusts. Kind of felt a little sorry about that, but it passed." Carol and I ended up talking for most of the evening. She liked the speech I wrote for Mom. Plus, she has a sarcastic streak that makes me look like a lightweight. It gives one hope for the future."

"Whoa, makes you a lightweight, that is just….I don't want to think about it."

"Good, wouldn't want you to go soft."

Jane parked the car in the lightly filled parking lot and the two walked into the restaurant. She said to her friend as the walked through the door, "Grab a booth while I get the goods."

"Yeth Masther" Daria rasped as she feigned a hunchback and scraped one foot on the floor as she headed toward a booth.

A dejected Michael MacKenzie lifted his head as he heard the two voices. _A little intelligent conversation might help a bit_, he thought as he gave a slight wave to catch Daria's attention.

Daria straightened and altered her path to his booth. "Hi Mack. How're you doing?" she said as she reached him.

"Not too bad I guess. Wouldn't mind a little company if you and Jane are interested."

Sensing his dismal mood, Daria's elusive conscious made itself known. "Not at all. Would it be a bad idea to ask where Jodie is?"

"Picking up one of her Dad's business associates at the airport. He has her working for him full-time this summer to get some 'real' business experience." The 'real' was growled more than spoken. "We were supposed to have lunch today, but he dropped the taxi assignment on her at the last minute. I'm starting to get worried; she really sounded stressed on the phone when I talked to her."

"That's too bad; I would have liked to see her, too." Daria waved to get Jane's attention as she brought over two slices of pizza with a pair of drinks on a small tray.

She sat down next to Daria and said, "Yo, Mack, waiting for Jodie?"

"No, her dad sent her off on a critical errand."

Daria looked at Mack and then looked at Jane. "Looks like we need to mount a rescue mission."

* * *

Helen cleared the remains of takeout from the table. "Quinn, where did you find a French restaurant with a takeout menu?"

"Mo—om. You're making me work this summer, I had to find someplace to get a decent lunch on work days."

"As if being a sales clerk at Cashman's is backbreaking work for you. They pay you to help other people shop and you get the employee discount on top of the frequent buyer discount," Daria said as she set her laptop case on the table and pulled out a large envelope and clipboard. "Delivery of one story within the three-day grace period allowed for writing one speech, sign here please." Daria handed the clipboard to her mother and slid the envelope across the table.

"My pleasure Sweetie. I've had more people congratulate me on that speech. Thank you. There's a letter on the table from _Literature in Action_ on the coffee table for you."

"Great, probably another rejection. At least the speech went over; maybe I can go into politics as a speechwriter." Daria noticed that instead of the standard envelope, it was a large format envelope like she used to mail in manuscripts. Upon opening it, she found a marked up copy of her submission, a stack of legal documents, and a formal letter:

**Dear Ms. Morgendorffer,**

**Your recent manuscript has been accepted for publication, pending minor revision. Enclosed is your manuscript with the recommended edits, along with our standard publishing agreements and contracts. Please review the recommended edits and submit your revised manuscript and/ or rebuttals within 30 days of receipt. Please sign and return the publishing agreements with your revised manuscript.**

**Thank you for choosing _Literature in Action_.**

Daria lowered the letter with a look of surprise and wonder in her eyes, "Its official, Melody Powers lives."

"Hey Daria, is that a new movie coming out?" Jake answered from behind his paper.

Daria walked over to him with a small smile on her face. "Dad, I think it's premature to start talking movie rights, I only sold a short story."

Helen bolted out of the kitchen and hugged her daughter, "Congratulations, we have to celebrate selling your first story!"

"Mom, please let me breath or the celebration will be bit short."

Helen released her grip but stayed close, "How would you like to celebrate?"

"A Dom Perignon '93?"

"Daria." Helen turned her head face downward while maintaining her gaze.

"The '94?"

Helen's eyes narrowed.

"Dom Perignon? Say, who's buying?' Jake set his paper down with an excited look on his face.

Helen's gaze shifted to him with shocking speed, "Jake, we are not allowing Daria to celebrate that way, she is still under age."

Daria took the break in ocular lock-on to start moving toward the stairs. "How about everybody be home for dinner tomorrow, give me some cash for supplies, and let me have some guests over."

"Okay, but no alcohol."

"Don't worry; they won't let me buy the good stuff. Oh, and could you please look at those publishing contracts, might as well take advantage of the free legal advice while I can." With that, Daria reached the top of the stairs and evaded further questioning.

After a couple seconds, Helen smiled as she heard a single soft thump of a slender girl jumping for joy.

* * *

A couple hours later, Daria sat on her bed staring at a small notepad. Beside the bed was a small pile of crumpled paper. "Dammit. We have to come up with something to get her time off, while working around two hyperactive, overly concerned parents. Glad I only have to work around one of those." Daria had a sudden, sad look in her eyes as a grim realization dawned. "Because if I had two, that could be me." With renewed determination, she continued writing and brainstorming the problem.

* * *

Late the next morning, a weary Daria answered the door as Mack waited outside.

"I hope you came up with something. When I talked with her last night, I think she was pricing chainsaws."

"I chanced on a temporary to get her away from things tonight, but the long-term is still iffy."

Daria let Mack in and held the door as she saw Jane jogging up the sidewalk in her running clothes. She called out, "I see you decided to grace us with a pleasant bouquet as we plot this morning."

Mack looked over his shoulder and caught on, "Hey, I survived the locker room with the entire football team, no need to worry on my part."

As Jane reached the door, she clapped Daria's shoulder and said, "Hey, I've been in the room when the odor eaters in your boots failed, so no comments."

Daria led the others to the living room, where pitchers of ice water and tea were on the coffee table, along with three glasses.

"First, the good news. I have a way to get Jodie away tonight."

Jane said, "At least it's a start, I take it the bad news is you haven't come up with a permanent solution yet."

"Correct."

Mack fidgeted a bit, "So what's on tonight."

Daria blushed and quietly said, "A small party here tonight."

Jane and Mack looked at each other, and then glared at Daria. Jane got up and started looking under the cushions. "Okay, first the formal gown, now a party. I know there's a pod around here somewhere."

"What formal gown?' Mack gave a confused look at Jane; then dodged a deflected pillow that had been originally targeted on her.

"I take it you don't read the society page. Come on Morgendorffer, cough one up, I know Mount St. Helen has multiple copies of the big night."

Daria got up and trudged to the entertainment center like a convict, grumbling along the way with occasion clear words; grumble, grumble, "kill", grumble, gripe, groan, "sausage patty", grumble, grex, grumble, "small rabid dog", grumble, growf, gurgle, "and dance on your grave." Upon her return, she unceremoniously dumped the newspaper in Mack's lap.

"Okay, lawyers dinner, all right, your mother giving speech, so where are…..Whoa!"

"Thank you; now make the vertical cut up the abdomen"

"Sorry Daria, just surprised. The most I'd ever seen you dressed up before was your graduation gown."

Jane giggled, "Daria, you better get used to it. So, why the party tonight?"

Daria's blush has started to fade, but brightened anew. "The literary birth of Melody Powers."

Blank stares from both.

"My first Melody Powers story has been accepted by a magazine. I coaxed a small dinner and party from Mom, and we are using it to get Jodie clear for tonight at least. Hopefully it will give us time to come up with a long-term plan before she detonates."

* * *

Jodie slumped before the computer monitor, the spreadsheet columns were becoming a vague smear and the numbers were as incomprehensible as Aztec. The ringing telephone roused her from her slumber, "Good afternoon, this is extension 234, Jodie Landon speaking."

"I hope you are having a good afternoon, for a change."

"Oh Mack, its improved now."

"Actually, I ran into Daria Morgendorffer and we've been invited to a small party tonight to celebrate her getting a story accepted for publication."

"Oh Mack, I am so sorry. Dad has me in charge of catering a business dinner tonight, I simply cannot get away. Will you please extend my apologies to her also? I bet she has actually smiled a time or two over this."

"Are you positive you can't get someone to cover for you?"

"Positive, Dad is using this to show me how to handle outside contractors. He will be over me like a hawk all evening."

"All right, I'll let her know. I'm getting real worried about you, your father is hardly giving you any time to yourself, even less than when you were in school."

"I keep telling myself it's only until August."

"Well, I hope you make it. Goodbye for now."

"Goodbye, thanks for calling. Please tell Daria I said congratulations."

Jodie stared back at the monitor and visualized her father in a cannibal's stew pot as the main dish of the catered dinner. "I'm beginning to see where Daria used to get some of her visuals."

* * *

Mack put down the telephone. "Bad news, she won't be able to make it tonight."

Daria looked frustrated. "Damn, now I'm going to have to call in some outside help." Daria hit a speed-dial button and waited briefly before saying, "Hi Marianne, it's Daria Morgendorffer. May I please speak to my mother? Thanks, I can hold." Daria thought as she waited, _Oh, is this going to cost me_.

* * *

Jodie had finally cleared her vision and started work again about half an hour after Mack's call. Her father, Andrew Landon, poked his head through the door.

"Jodie, I just got a call from Helen Morgendorffer. You've been invited to a celebration for Daria getting published. I hear she has also become a good speech writer. Never too early to maintain good networks like this if you want to go into politics. I'll have Marsha handle the dinner tonight and we can complete your training on outsources later."

Jodie used her practiced calm face, "Yes sir. What time should I be there?"

"Six. Don't forget to make the most of your time. Knowing a good speechwriter is always handy." As quickly as it had entered, her father's head retreated from the doorway.

Jodie smiled and thought, "I detect the nefarious machinations of one Daria Machiavelli in that little exchange. Thank you, friend."

* * *

Helen ushered Jodie into the house with a cheerful, "Please come in. Everybody is in the dining room. How are your parents doing?"

Putting on her cover smile, Jodie answered, "About as busy as ever, but otherwise doing well."

On the far wall was a poster with the James Bond style view through a rifle barrel. In his place was Melody Powers, looking suspiciously like Daria in a tuxedo. Jake was setting out several pizzas with a frightening array of toppings on the table, along with plates and drinks. Jodie was slightly surprised to see Quinn in attendance; Jane was there, as was Mack. As she entered, he gave her a quick hug and kiss. "Glad you would make it."

Jane pressed a champagne flute into her hand, "So it's grape juice, we just have to pretend. Good to see you here too."

Helen picked up a flute and raised it, "A toast to the world's newest published author. Congratulations and best wishes for a long, successful career."

Various positive assents were made as Daria faced the crowd. "Yes, a long career pandering to the prurient interests of the American public." Helen brought her hand to her forehead and Jake raised his glass again; while Quinn and Daria's friends laughed. Daria set her glass down and nervously clasped her hands together. "Um, thank you for being here. I may be a little slow at times with things like this, but I do appreciate the support I have had from all of you." Breaking her nervous mood, she opened the closest box and said, "Okay, now that the formalities are over, we have pizza to slaughter."

* * *

The small party continued in a quiet, jovial tone. Quinn stayed around long enough to be polite before leaving for a date. Mack was distracting Jake with tales of Kevin Thompson's exploits on and off the football field, while Jane was quietly negotiating for a photo of Daria in her formal dress from Helen.

Daria leaned toward Jodie and quietly said, "Getting you out of the house was also part of the reason for tonight's festivities. Mack told Jane and I how stressed you've been lately, and we're worried too. Once things run down here, you are invited to a summit meeting upstairs to find a way to get you some time off before you do go ballistic."

"I really could use a break. I was wondering if something like this was up after your mother conveniently called my Dad less than half an hour after I told Mack I couldn't make it. I detected a hint of your maneuverings in that."

"I will neither confirm nor deny."

"Thanks anyway. Some of the things I'm starting to imagine make your old horror stories for Mr. O'Neill seem a little tame."

"Trust me, that's a good sign. It's a great way to let out frustration. So, are you in?"

"If there is the slightest chance of getting a break, I'm with you. Besides, it will technically fulfill my father's orders to keep networking with you."

"My pleasure to give him reason to regret that." Daria smirked.

* * *

With the pizza decimated and the Morgendorffer parents off to their own pursuits, all four quietly climbed the stairs to Daria's room. Two hours later, they sat around the carpet in Daria's room, the skeleton replica still in its honored place front and center. Pillows, empty drinks, and paper detritus littered the floor around them.

Daria pinched the bridge of her nose and said, "There is one more option, I was hoping it wouldn't come down to this. Daria felt the same sick feeling she had as a sophomore when she prepared to dress as her sister to end the younger siblings foray into bad poetry. "We could set up an honor society for graduating class leaders. Mr. Landon would love to have Jodie as an inaugural member of that kind of organization and wouldn't have a problem with letting her attend regular meetings. He doesn't need to know that no real business will be done at them."

Jodie shook her head. "Okay, say we can get a group started. Dad will be sure to check on it. Any bogus group would be spotted in a minute and he would slam the gate down."

"That's why it will have to be legit. I do have a lawyer contact to help with that."

Jane said, "Fine, so we set up a legit group. Getting Jodie in is a no-brainer, but what about the rest of the membership? A society of one would be just as suspicious, and Mr. Landon is familiar enough with the class that we can't populate it with fake students."

Daria sighed deeply, "That's why I was holding this as a final choice. We would be the rest of the inaugural members." Daria waved her hand from herself to Jane and Mack, who stared at her as if she had sprouted a tree limb from her forehead. "Along with Jodie, we are the leading students from Lawndale High School for our respective activities. Mack, you were captain of the football team for three years, a school record, plus you had the highest GPA of the team. Jane, you are the most accomplished artist to pass through in years, if not all time. I had the highest graduating grade percentage of any student to attend Lawndale. Between the four of us, we cover Art, Leadership, Scholarship and Sports. As distressing as it sounds, we are the cream of the crop for the class of '99."

Jane looked over at Daria, "Explain that to me, you had the higher percent, but Jodie was Valedictorian."

Jodie spoke up, "The school guidelines favored me. It specifically stated the position to go to the student with the highest GPA; in the event of a tie, the one with the most school activities would be chosen."

"We both had 4.0, thus, I was spared having to make a valedictory speech. Thanks for being so active ,Jodie." Daria gave a small smile with that. "Back to the plan, this will give us a cover organization to hold regular meetings to get Jodie away."

"Like I need another activity to help get out of my current ones. This is starting to sound like almost as much work as I would be avoiding." Jodie sounded dispirited.

Jane looked in disbelief, "Daria, you graduated, you've been accepted to Raft, and you don't need extracurriculars anymore. I certainly don't want them. This could make me look like a joiner, wouldn't want that on my conscience."

"Okay Mack, what's your objection." Daria said with a hint of frustration.

"You want me to be the sole male member of an exclusive organization with three intelligent, beautiful women. What's there to object to?" His duck resulted in him evading the pillow from Daria, but put him straight in the path of the one from Jane. The hammer strike pillow from Jodie completed the assault.

Daria continued, "If it were for almost anybody else, even I wouldn't consider it. Remember, we will be in control. We can set the agenda, or lack thereof. If you find it too embarrassing, you can leave it off your resume. We won't have to do any real work if we don't want to. This looks like our best option. Are we agreed then?"

Three weak "Agreed" responses came to the prompt.

Daria pulled out a notepad. "Now for the next step, setting this organization up and leaving no suspicious leads back to us.

* * *

Ms. Carol Murphey, Attorney, viewed the papers through her bifocals. After a few moments, she looked up at the young woman seated across the desk from her. "This is very unusual, but I understand your objective. Will these faculty members give the recommendations you're expecting?"

"I think I understand them well enough to have high confidence in predicting their recommendations."

"This seems to be a lot of work to go through for your friend, are you sure about this?"

"Yes, we're sure about it. Please don't ask for details, but I learned a year ago just how important your friends are. Jodie was a friend to me even when I wasn't interested, we need to do this."

"As long as you understand that if I am going to do this, this will be an organization that continues after you and your friends move on. It will give your friend the break she needs, but it will require the agreed commitment from you. I ask again, are you sure?"

Daria's voice was hesitant, but firm, "I'm sure."

* * *

Over the next week, several letters arrived at the office of Ms. Murphey, sponsor of the Lawndale High School Student Leaders Honor Society.

…**_It is with great honor that I recommend Ms. Jodie Landon as the inaugural representative for outstanding Student Leadership. _**

_**Angela Li**_

_**Principal, Lawndale High School**_

…**_Mr. Michael MacKenzie has been a stellar representative of the well-rounded athlete, and is my recommendation for the sports leadership position._**

_**Coach Gibson**_

…_**The pleasure is all mine to heartily suggest Ms. Jane Lane as the most gifted and motivated art student I have had the opportunity to teach.**_

**_Claire Defoe_**

…**_The driven academic excellence demonstrated by Ms. Daria Morgendorffer is one of the reasons I remain a teacher. Only a fool would ignore her as the representative for Scholastic Achievement._**

**_Anthony Demartino _**

Within a day of receiving these, four more letters were sent out from the office of Ms. Murphey.

* * *

Michelle Landon scrutinized the letter, suppressing the urge to steam it open since she couldn't read anything through the opaque envelope. She hurriedly set the letter aside as a loud crash from the kitchen heralded the arrival of her toddler son, Evan, into that room.

Jodie had barely stepped inside when her mother approached. "Do you have any idea of why you would be getting a letter from such a prestigious lawyer?"

Noticing the name, Jodie forced a straight face, "No idea, Mother." She opened the envelope and read:

**Dear Ms. Landon,**

**Upon the recommendation of the faculty of Lawndale High School, it is my honor to invite you into the Lawndale High School Student Leaders Honor Society as the inaugural representative for Student Leadership. This organization recognizes recent graduates for cumulative accomplishments through their high school career. Four students will be chosen every year, representing Art, Athletics, Scholarship, and Student Leadership. This society will provide a venue to recognize a high school career of hard work, and to provide an atmosphere for these student leaders to network together in preparation for their future.**

**You are invited to the formal introduction luncheon and organizational meeting next Wednesday, 12:00 Noon, Lawndale Civic Center. Parents are welcome for the luncheon, while I will meet privately with the new members during the organizational meeting to follow.**

**Sincerely,**

_**Carol Murphey**_

**Sponsor**

Jodie thought to herself, _With all my practice, I would probably do great in theater, if I ever have the time_. She held the letter out to her mother and said with a less than enthusiastic voice, "Look Mother, another honor to tack on the wall. I suppose you want me to join this one, too."

* * *

Late that afternoon, Jane and Daria were relaxing on Jane's bed, watching _The Worst of Sick, Sad World_ on videotape. Trent stepped in holding the letter for Jane. "Um, Janey, have you gotten into some trouble you haven't told me about? Hey Daria, sorry I couldn't make it to the party. You know, a gig's a gig." Daria nodded in return and gave a knowing smile.

Jane grabbed the letter and opened it. As she read, she told her brother, "It's part of the plan to help Jodie. The lawyer is an accomplice of Daria's. Nothing to worry…" Jane's voice doubled in volume with, "…What the Hell! Formal introduction!"

Daria developed a decidedly evil, small grin. "We have to make it look good, besides, now we get to take you shopping."

* * *

Carol Murphey stood at the podium of the Lawndale Civic Center meeting room, a respected lady in her seventies with white hair and large bifocals. Seated at the table to her left was Jodie in a pale blue dress and Mack in a tuxedo, to her right Daria in her black gown and Jane in a red short sleeved, v-necked ensemble. The lines on the bodice paralleled those of the neck, meeting at the waist under a black belt. Seated at tables before them were Helen and Jake, Andrew and Michelle, Amanda Lane and Mr. and Mrs. MacKenzie. A single newspaper photographer and reporter stood nearby taking notes and pictures. "Therefore, my congratulations to the inaugural members, Jodie Landon, Jane Lane, Michael MacKenzie and Daria Morgendorffer. Now a word from the nominated president, Ms. Morgendorffer."

Daria nervously took the podium. "Thank you Ms. Murphey. Thanks also to the faculty of Lawndale High for our nominations, the Lawndale Chamber of Commerce for donation of the room and providing the luncheon, and mostly, our parents for providing the support and guidance that made all this possible. Now please, enjoy your meals. After, the society will meet with Ms. Murphey to begin our organizational duties. With everyone's support, we hope to make this society everything it was intended to be."

After the lunch had been cleared and the parents departed, the gang of four and Carol relaxed around a small table. Daria was speaking, "So, my taking the presidency was part of the price to Carol for setting this whole mess up, besides the agony of shopping for a dress with Jane."

Jane looked at Jodie and Mack, "It was no where near as bad as shopping with Daria for her dress."

"Officially, we will be working together every Wednesday afternoon at a place of our choosing to develop the charter and bylaws for the society and to network with each other for our future good. The reality is that the four of us can use this time as we see fit; especially to give our friend Jodie the time off she needs. However, Carol wants this to be more than what we have in mind, so there will be a future organization to recognize graduating seniors. It will require a real charter and development. That is the final part of my agreement; I will be working with her to develop them. Each of you will have any input you choose, and the final approval will be by vote, though if you choose not to participate, that will also be fine. Jodie, we have finally traded places, I will be the joiner working for others and you can slack off and have time to enjoy."

Jodie wiped away a tear, "Thank you everyone. I can't believe how much trouble you have gone to for me. Especially you Daria, no offense, but why?"

"Jodie, it's kind of hard to fully explain, let's just say that I felt a new kindred to you and wanted to share some of what I have been able to enjoy, even if it meant having to do some of the same things that almost drove you crazy."

Jane reached into her oversized black purse and removed a stack of videos. "Speaking of sharing what we enjoy, I have four hours of _Sick, Sad World_, there is a TV and VCR over there, and we have an afternoon to kill."

Daria slapped her hand on the table and said, "This closes the organizational meeting of the Lawndale High Student Leaders Honor Society. Now let us retire to partake of what this society was intended to be."

Carol watched the four young adults gather chairs around the television. "I like how these young people look after each other; it gives me hope in our future."

* * *

Thanks to Lawndale Stalker, Ranger Thorne, Decelaraptor, Angelinhel, MrMagnum, Kristen Bealer, Isa Yo-Jo, and mman for support, comments, constructive criticism and suggestions.

June 2004  
Rev. January 2005


	5. Comforting A Confused Soul

Disclaimer: This Daria and associated characters are owned by MTV. This is fan fiction written for entertainment only. No money or other negotiable currency or goods have been exchanged.

This is the fifth story in the Last Summer series

Richard Lobinske

**Comforting a Confused Soul**

Jane Lane stepped back from the easel to take in the full composition. The subjects were roughed in, but recognizable. Jake and Helen Morgendorffer were placed in the center. Daria was placed next to Helen, and Quinn beside Jake, both slightly in front of their parents. Jake was painted wearing a tuxedo, Helen in a dark red evening gown, Quinn in blue, and Daria in black. Tacked across the top of the canvas were large scans of each in their formal attire. Beside the easel was a table with four artist mannequins, posed as a group that matched the family portrait. Swing-arm lamps were clamped to the table to give stable lighting to them. Hours of work still lay ahead before the painting would be complete, but Jane was happy with the progress made. Thumb on brush handle, she eyeballed the proportions and placement of the painting. While taking these measurements, thought back to the small party at Daria's a couple weeks ago.

* * *

Beside her, all the Morgendorffers, Jodie, and Mack were milling around the dining room table, munching on pizza and talking about Daria's first published story. Helen and Jake had momentarily disappeared and then reappeared with a cake topped with a small plastic easel and inscribed, "Congratulations, Jane." 

Helen waved to get everyone's attention, "Daria tells me we have another reason to celebrate tonight. Jane made her first major sale this week. Congratulations Jane, best wishes on your budding career, too."

* * *

The only other Lane at home when she had made her first major sale was her brother Trent. To his credit, he convinced Mystic Spiral to take her out for pizza to celebrate, though she did have to help cover the tab. Jane's mother, Amanda, had returned from her latest artistic expedition only a week ago. She, along with her husband Vincent, had missed Jane's graduation, thus only Trent served as the family representative for Jane. Vincent, her brother Wind, and sisters Penny and Summer were scattered to the four winds, for some, whereabouts unknown. Except for Trent, Jane often felt the other members of the Lane household thought of her more as a boarder than as family. Despite creating a whole new definition of dysfunctional, the Morgendorffers had treated her like family more often in the last three years than had her own. 

What had started out as an artistic poke at her friend had turned into something more involved. She had obtained photos from Helen of Daria and her family at the Bar Association Dinner. The original intent was a painting of Daria in a formal dress, since she was so easily embarrassed by how well she looked. However, seeing them bring out a cake to commemorate her success led to a change of plans.

Jane said to herself. "The chances of those maniacs getting together like this for a portrait without bloodshed are a million to one. I hope they like this gift for comforting a confused soul like mine." She remembered a comment she made to Daria the previous summer:

"_Any kid who looks to you for nurturing is more than just lost."_

She shook her head and said, "So what does that make me?"

Trent's voice called from the door, "Janey, something weird happened in the kitchen; do you know anything about it?"

Jane thought, _Please don't let it be Mom doing glazes in there again_. She turned to look at his approaching form. "Define weird."

"There are these boxes in the refrigerator; it looks like they might have food."

"Hit it in one Trent. The Food Fairy paid us a visit."

"What?"

"I bought groceries yesterday. I was getting tired of Pizza Prince, Cluster Burger and Good Times Chinese."

"Cool. Where'd you get the money? Mom always hides the blank checks when she gets home."

"I sold another painting. Plus, I do get paid for the hours I put in at Gary's."

"Oh yeah, you've been, like, responsible lately." Trent reached the easel and was looking at the reference photos. "Whoa, Daria looks hot."

"I'm doing a family portrait for the Morgendorffers, using some photos of them from that formal dinner I had to help Daria shop for last month." Jane got a half-smile and said, "I'm sure she'd love to hear you say that. She is unattached again, you know."

Trent shook his head, remembering his long conversation with Daria early in the summer, "Don't go there. So, why the painting for the Morgendorffers?"

"For remembering me and my first sale at Daria's party. They had me over there helping decorate for her, and then they managed to completely surprise me. Brought out a cake and everything. Besides you, they are the closest I feel to a family."

"They're good people. The portrait's a nice thought. Say, does that food have directions?"

Jane laughed at her brother, "Yes, Trent. I made sure all the packages had cooking directions. Just to let you know, that food is for us, not the band. They can bring their own."

Trent was heading out of the room, "Good thinking, Janey. Better make sure they don't go through the kitchen after practice tonight."

"Crap." Looking worried, Jane started capping paint tubes and securing loose objects.

* * *

The following morning in Jane's room, the buzzing alarm was abruptly stopped by a pounding fist. Jane crawled from bed on all fours. 

"Eight AM. What I am I doing?"

Two-thirds of the way to her door, she managed to achieve an upright walk, but kept one hand on a wall for support. By 8:45, Jane was heading out the front door clothed in black jeans and a rumpled red dress shirt, carrying her backpack. A large travel mug of coffee was held firmly in her other hand. Tossing the backpack into the passenger seat of Trent's car, she started it and backed out of the driveway. Ten minutes later she was behind Gary's Gallery, unlocking the back door with her keys.

* * *

Jane was looking between one of the scanned printouts and a sketchpad, adding to the drawing at intervals. She gazed up at the clock: 12:45. Sighing, she carefully put a couple finishing touches on a detail drawing of Daria's face for the portrait, put the printout carefully into the sketchpad, and closed it. She traded it for an identical looking one from her backpack and started sketching an abstract of her house.

Daria walked in about five minutes later, wearing one of her black skirts and a green t-shirt sporting the image of a cockroach and the words "May the Metamorphosis be with you."

"Hi, Jane. About ready for lunch?"

"Starving. Just waiting for Gary to get here and we can go." Jane set the sketchpad on the counter and started to total up money in the cash register and check against the receipts. "You know, one of these days it'd be cool to be in here when one of my paintings sells." As she spoke, she nodded toward a side-room of the store where local artists displayed works for sale. Inside, Jane had half of one wall devoted to her works, not bad with over a dozen local artists also displaying.

"Get me a copy of the security tape; I want to see the look on your face, and the customer's, when you give them a wet, sloppy kiss."

"Pervert."

* * *

Jane and Daria seated themselves in a booth at the Good Times Chinese Restaurant. One of the waiters quickly approached, poured tea for both, and handed each a menu before departing. Daria handed Jane a sheaf of papers from the folder she'd carried in. "This is for you and Trent. I was inspired by your general attitude toward holidays and the comment that you always feel something is a little out of place around here." Daria made a small, sweeping gesture to indicate the restaurant. 

Jane read the title aloud, "_Depth Takes a Holiday_." She read a little bit, then cocked her head to the right and said, "Daria, they said don't take the brown acid."

"Not to worry, no brain cells were sacrificed for your entertainment, though I think some of them still aren't speaking to each other. It was an interesting change of pace to write something that absurd."

"If our lives weren't absurd enough, you write about it being more so?"

"Guess you could call it a gift."

"You know Daria, it's getting late in July. The summer is more than half over."

"Don't remind me. As much as I look forward to getting a real education, this has been the most enjoyable summer I've ever had. I don't want it to end just yet."

"You better be careful," Jane started counting on her fingers, "Conned your way out of a structured summer activity; shopped for and wore a formal dress, twice; wrote a speech for your mother; created an real honor society out of thin air: manipulated the four of us as the inaugural members; and assumed presidency of said honor society. Either that's six impossible things you've done before college, or we are just one sign away from the apocalypse."

"I don't plan on letting that happen before eleven AM, your move-in day to BFAC."

"Daria, you remembered. How sweet."

"Just do me a favor, I don't want photos."

Jane shook her head. "Damn, we are getting frustrated. How did we drift on to this subject? Anyway, I was going to suggest something we have never done before: road trip."

"Jane, doesn't that require a car first?"

* * *

Jane had begged off going to Daria's after lunch, explaining that she needed to help her mother find the new heat variations in her kiln. She was excited to get back to work on the painting. Daria was getting suspicious about Jane's evading her to spend time at Casa Lane; and the drop in time she spent visiting her. Therefore, Jane wanted to get as much time put into working on the portrait that night as she could. Her mother was in the kitchen when Jane entered the house. 

"Jane, do you remember when I bought all this?" It's all so prepackaged."

Jane bitterly responded, "Mom, you didn't buy it, I did."

"Why did you do that?"

Jane's bitterness was starting to turn to anger, "Because I wanted something to eat in the house! I am tired of finding strange things growing on what is supposed to be food. I am tired of having to go out someplace to find something safe to eat. Mom, you haven't had the kitchen stocked this well since the last time everybody was home and you bought food for family dinners. You bought enough for a week and everyone was gone within a day."

"Helen was right that it would get me the house back; I just didn't expect it to work so fast."

"Well, that's wonderful. Why haven't you been keeping up with it, at least when you are actually home?"

"You and Trent have been doing so well, I didn't worry about it."

"Great. Things have been like that for I don't remember how many years now. Trent and I seem to survive, so you don't feel the need to put in much effort. I feel like you barely know I'm around. Do you even know how old I am?"

"Well, you were born in '81, so that would make you 18. Say, shouldn't you be graduating soon?"

Jane's anger merged into rage, "That was a month and a half ago! You were too damn busy with God only knows what to even get back!" Jane turned and quickly exited the house.

Amanda lightly clasped her hands in front of herself. "I better make sure Trent doesn't lock the door tonight so she can get back in."

* * *

Jane had jogged to the railroad tracks along the side of town. When she reached them, she followed along at a walk. She passed the station on the opposite side of the tracks to avoid the small waiting crowd, crossing back once clear of the station. She cut over through a parking lot and reached the end of Dega Street. Traffic was light in the afternoon heat, which suited Jane's mood better than a large crowd. Slowly and randomly, she wandered along the street, occasionally stopping in stores or just window gazing. She stopped in front of the Funky Doodle momentarily. 

"Ack. Who'd want to wear that? No wonder it's been in the window for over two years now."

Shaking her head, she continued on toward Axl's. "Not that I need any more holes in my head, but maybe something new to put in them."

"What have we here? The lean and luscious lady in red, Miss Lane."

Jane felt her stomach lurch at the sickeningly saccharine and decidedly undebonair voice of Upchuck.

"And where, pray tell, is the striking and mysterious temptress in black, Miss Morgendorffer?"

_Figures he would actually read the local news_, Jane thought as she looked at the red-headed boy approaching from the side. Revulsion mixed with annoyance at the interruption to her wanderings.

With eyes flashing an icy blue, Jane spoke through clenched teeth, "Upchuck, you have five seconds to remove yourself from my sight if you want any of your appendages to remain attached to your body."

"Grr, Fies….ty." His voice dropped from normal to a hoarse whisper as he saw the cold fury reflected in those eyes, something he didn't want directed at him. He backed away three paces, then spun on his heel and sprinted down the nearest alley.

Not waiting to give him a chance to reconsider, she broke into a jog and was quickly at Axl's.

"Afternoon, luv. Cool news about your painting." The accented voice rose from behind the counter, followed quickly by the owner's head.

"Huh? Oh, thanks, Axl. How'd you hear about it?"

"Trent told me the last time he was here. He was real happy for you."

"He was almost as happy as I was. At least there's somebody in my family that notices anything."

"Things not going well at home? Let me guess, you've had other family members return."

Jane sat down on a stool across the counter from Axl, relieved to have someone to talk to. "Mom made it back last week. She and my Dad missed my graduation, later; she came home as if nothing had happened. Spends almost all of her time down in her kiln bunker. Then she got all weird on me for actually buying some food to have in the house. In the middle of everything, it finally dawned on her to ask if my graduation was soon. That's when I lost it and left."

"No offense luv, I'm happy to be a friendly ear. But don't you think it'd be better to talk this out with a good friend, like Daria?"

"Well, she's also part of the problem, or at least, she and her family are."

"How so?"

"Daria's been my best friend for three years now. Her family is basically a bunch of lunatics, but they mean well and have good hearts. In their own ways, they have accepted me and I've felt more like a family to them than my own, except Trent. I was planning to work on something for them today when things hit the fan with Mom. I want to keep this as a surprise; if I talked to Daria today, I'd probably spill the beans. Besides, I kind of feel like my loyalty is split." Jane paused, and then said, "Did that make any sense?"

Axl grinned, "How many years have I been doing piercings for Mystic Spiral? I've learned to deal with their convoluted logic; your situation actually makes sense."

Jane breathed out a short laugh. "Thanks."

"Trent also mentioned some award ceremony or something; did your mum make it to that?"

"She was a bit confused by it, but yeah, she did."

Axl lightly patted Jane's hand. "So, she does care when she remembers, or you remind her."

"I guess you're right; I just wish she remembered better."

"Kind of like a child doesn't remember. From what Trent told me, the two of you have been the real adults around there for a couple years now. You've been forced to grow up fast around your home, but at least it sounds like you've had another place to stay young at."

"That just about sums things up."

"Maybe now you need to talk to your mum again."

"You're right; I need to talk to her, but not quite yet. Got any new earrings in?"

* * *

By early evening, Jane found herself back to an empty and unlocked home. She went to the kitchen to fix some dinner. Held to the refrigerator by a magnetic clip was a small stack of money and a note. 

_**Jane,**_

_**I found the grocery receipt in one of the empty bags. Next time, please let me know so you don't have to use your money. By the way, the ramen noodles heat up very nicely on the kiln.**_

_**Mom**_

Jane went to the back yard and descended into the pottery shelter. Amanda was seated at one workbench applying glaze to a series of thrown vases.

"Hi, Mom. Can I talk with you?"

"Of course. Communication is what keeps us together."

Jane stopped herself from rolling her eyes. "Mom, how much have we been communicating lately?"

"Oh, not much, really."

"I wanted to try to finish what we started this afternoon."

"I thought you would be back to talk about that. If you try to hold a..."

Jane cut off her mother abruptly, "Don't even bring up the freaking butterfly. Mom, you missed my graduation. Everyone else had their families there, I only had Trent. That hurt." Jane's shoulders slumped and her eyes were moist.

"Oh, you went to your graduation? I'm sorry, I didn't think you would since none of your brothers or sisters did."

"Oh. I knew about Trent and Penny, but I was too young to remember about Summer and Wind. Still, it would have been nice if you had checked with me."

"I guess I should have. You and Trent have always been such free spirits; it seems more like you are my equals instead of my children."

_Um, yeah_. Jane mentally added, _Or of us as your parents_. She decided to move on and try a little more reconciliation. "At least you were there for the Honor Society ceremony."

"That does make a little more sense now, knowing that you graduated. Somehow, I got the sense that there was something else going on there."

"Just a few in-jokes between the four of us." Jane was also thinking, "I hope she buys that."

"Okay." Amanda gave Jane a slightly scrutinizing look.

"I still wish Dad could've been there, too."

"He was never comfortable with those kinds of things, but I'll let him know about it."

Jane decided to drop that line of discussion and move on to another. "Mom, we haven't really had a chance to talk about this before, but how much can you and Dad help me with college?"

"I thought you decided against college."

Jane thought back. The last time Amanda was home, Jane had only just sent her portfolio to BFAC and was maintaining the cover of no interest. Realization dawned suddenly and a little harshly.

"Mom, I changed my mind. I've been accepted for mid-year admission at Boston Fine Arts College." Jane's voice became quiet, "I forgot to tell you."

"Oh." Amanda gave Jane a gentle smile. "I think Vincent and I will be able to help you some." With a slight change in voice and demeanor that Jane had never encountered before, Amanda said, "Why don't we take a look at what you will need and what you have worked out already?"

* * *

Night had fully fallen by the time Jane finally reached her bedroom and prepared to paint. She felt better about her relationship with her mother than she had in years, and realized that she had more financial support for college than previously thought. Jane recognized the energy and motivation she felt now and relished it. There would be no sleep tonight; her muse was screaming and she would soon enter that dreamlike state of creation that only came infrequently, but always resulted in her best work. There was one last thing to do before starting, so she picked up the phone and dialed. 

Helen answered with her sweet sounding "Hello."

"Hi, Mrs. Morgendorffer, it's Jane."

"Hi, Jane. Daria is in her room, just a second."

"No need, could you do me a favor tomorrow?"

"Jane, are you in trouble?"

"No, Mrs. Morgendorffer." Jane smiled at the automatic reaction. "I have a surprise for everyone I want to bring over, could you try to keep everyone tied down around the house at dinner tomorrow?"

"I guess so, what is this about?"

"That's a surprise. Can you do it?"

"I'll make sure everyone is here."

"Thanks, bye." Jane shut off the phone and prepared to paint without waiting for Helen's response.

Helen looked at the phone. "What a strange girl." Her smile indicated no real concern in the comment.

* * *

All four Morgendorffers were seated around the kitchen table for dinner. Jake was reading the paper, as was Daria. However, she was only lightly skimming the paper while listening for the doorbell. Helen and Quinn were conversing, both looking frustrated. 

"Mom, my date will be here at any time. So what is this big deal we are waiting for?"

"I don't know, Jane would only say it was a surprise that she would bring over at dinner."

"That's what I'm worried about."

The ringing doorbell broke the conversation. Daria rose. "I'll get it."

Daria opened the door to reveal Jane and Trent carrying a black draped easel that obviously held a fairly large painting. In the driveway, she could see that the tank had been borrowed for the purpose. "Come on in, Jane. Hi, Trent."

Daria's family had gathered behind at was they considered a safe distance.

Jane gave a quick "Hi, everybody," and Trent simply said, "Hey."

After setting down the easel, Jane climbed underneath and made a few minor adjustments before coming out from under the drape.

Jane fidgeted and looked down a few moments, coughed lightly and looked up. "When you took the time out from Daria's publication party to surprise me with a cake for making my first big sale, it really meant a lot to me. Outside of Trent, I haven't been able to share a lot with my family. I know they love and care in their own way; my creativity and independence come from their hands-off approach. However, there were times when more support and closeness are needed. For the last three years since I met Daria, you have done that for me. Since I know you would never get together to have something like this done on your own, I made this as a gift to say thank you."

Jane pulled away the cover to show the portrait. A tear slid down Jane's cheek as she did. This was one of her best works and she was proud to give it to her second family.

Daria knew her friend's talent and skill, so she wasn't surprised by the artistry of the finished product. Knowing Jane's relationship to most of her family, Daria stood still in awe at what she knew was a great emotional investment on the part of her friend.

Jake and Helen were both surprised and pleased. In all the activity and confusion, they'd never succeeded in getting a good photograph of all four of them that night. Instead, their daughter's dear friend Jane had given them the family portrait they had long wished for and never achieved. They saw not only the physical appearance of each family member, but could feel the essence of each through the painting.

Quinn was understandably pleased that she looked good. Jane had captured her appearance quite well. However, she was exceptionally pleased with how well her sister looked. Quinn thought _Daria should be able to see her beauty, just as I can see my intelligence_.

Quinn felt a twinge of sisterly evil and was the first to speak, "Wow, you even managed to make Daria look good in that."

Daria started to glare at Quinn when she saw her sister wink, then quickly ad-libbed, "And Quinn looks like she's about to say something comprehensible."

Helen was about to rebuke both her daughters for their rude comments when she noticed the smirks passing between them and Jane. She ignored them and walked up to Jane, giving her a hug. "That is so beautiful, thank you Jane. I didn't realize how much we meant to you, but you are always welcome in our home."

Jake slapped Jane on the back, "That's really cool, Jane-O. No wonder you've been making sales of your work." Jake remembered the time he looked into having a portrait painted as a gift for Helen and shuddered at the price. At the same time, he knew such prices reflected the effort required, and was happy his daughter had a friend who thought so highly of the entire family.

Daria approached last, gave Jane a hug, and whispered, "Thank you."

The quiet emotion in that simple statement told Jane she had done the right thing.

* * *

Quote from: 

Glenn Eichler and Peggy Nicoll, _Is it Fall Yet?_

Thanks to Ranger Thorne, Isa Yo-Jo, Parker-man and Mahna Mahna at PPMB for comments.

Thanks to Kristen Bealer and Robert Nowall for beta reading and detailed commentary.

June 2004  
Revised January 2005


	6. It Was Your Idea

Disclaimer: This Daria and associated characters are owned by MTV. This is fan fiction written for entertainment only. No money or other negotiable currency or goods have been exchanged.

This is the sixth story in the Last Summer series.

Richard Lobinske

**It Was Your Idea**

Daria sat at her desk, removing papers from the printer, while Jane continued her painting. Daria turned and spoke. "The trip was your idea, and I'm just making sure we're more comfortable during the process."

"Daria, you're picking up almost the entire tab for the weekend."

"I'm in a position to afford it, don't worry. There's still plenty in the Montana Cabin Fund. More recently known as the Pay Off The Visa Before Mom Sees The Bill Fund."

"You're making me feel guilty about this."

"Don't, you're my friend." Daria quietly added, "I told you that when we decided to make the trip."

"Okay, but don't forget the rest of the agreement, you will go to the beach - in a bathing suit - and try to relax for a while."

"Only as long as you're there with me, and similarly attired."

"With a camera." Jane gave a big grin.

"Do you want wasabi powder added to certain hygiene products?"

"Ouch. If you do that, your sister gets the negatives."

"Damn."

* * *

Daria walked out the front door wearing green shorts and an "Okay to Cry Corral" t-shirt that had a large red bullet hole and trickle of blood added to the character forehead. She carried a suitcase and a small travel bag in her hands, her laptop travel case slung by a strap over her shoulder. Daria opened the trunk of the new model, dark green Taurus she'd arranged for her mother to rent for the weekend and put her baggage inside. Beside her, Jake passed a beach umbrella, folding chair and cooler that he'd carried out. Daria put the first two in the trunk and the cooler on the floorboard of the back seat. She unslung the laptop and carefully placed it on the back seat. 

Quinn and Helen followed behind, with Quinn complaining. "Mo-om, why won't you let me plan a weekend to the beach with my friends?"

"For the same reason I won't let you have a party at the house when we're not home."

"But you're letting Daria go."

"Your sister is an adult who'll be going off to college in only a couple weeks. We trust her."

"How about if you let me go shopping with the same amount of money she's getting for this?"

"Quinn, we're not paying for this. Daria is."

Quinn shot a look at her sister. "So where'd you get the money?"

Daria softly smiled. "You don't think I spent all that bribe money I got from Mom and Dad over the years? Before you look, the day I turned 18, all of it went in a private savings account."

Quinn sighed. "Okay, just promise me you won't wear that old bathing suit you had in Highland."

"As shocking as it may seem to you, I don't fit in that anymore."

Daria closed the trunk lid and moved to the driver's door. "Good bye, everybody."

Helen gave her a brief hug and said, "Please be careful."

Daria gave a slightly weary, "I will."

Jake gave a wave, "Have a great time, don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Um, sure."

Quinn also hugged her. "Yes, I'm still jealous you're going. Please have fun, and find a cute guy to buy you dinner."

Daria rolled her eyes and climbed into the car. "I need to get going. See you on Sunday night."

* * *

"Hey, nice wheels." Jane called over her shoulder as she carried a battered pair of small suitcases out of the door. Daria followed with a folded easel and a stack of art supply boxes. Trent carried a folding chair and grocery bag of assorted travel munchies. 

"Thanks. I got a good online deal for the weekend. No painting in the car; I want my damage deposit back."

"Something like this would be nice for you to get in Boston."

"Jane, have you gone mad? Can you imagine me trying to drive in Boston? Beside, Raft doesn't issue parking decals to freshmen; I'd have to park off-campus. Maybe next year I'll have totally gone insane. Then find something that I won't get upset about losing in a traffic circle."

"We can only hope. Too bad, BFAC won't allow freshman to have cars, either."

The three reached the car and started unloading. Trent continued the conversation. "So, will I have to head up to Boston to drive you two around?"

Daria smiled, "Good one, Trent."

Soon Jane's belongings were secured in the trunk and the travel munchies next to the cooler of drinks. Trent stepped back with a slightly off, vacant look.

"Hey, Trent, it's only for the weekend," Jane said as she sat down in the passenger seat.

"I know. But in a couple months, it won't be just for the weekend. I still think I need to get a puppy."

Jane shook her head and smiled. "Remember, you can eat out of the fridge if it's in a sealed box. Don't let the band near it; I want to eat when I get back. We'll talk about the puppy later."

Daria gave a slight wave, "Bye, Trent. Don't sleep too hard while we're gone."

* * *

As the car traveled down the interstate at 80 mph, Daria's head was nodding slightly to music. Jane's right hand gripped the overhead handle tightly, a look of worry in her eyes. Daria's head stopped nodding and she sighed slightly while the car decelerated to the speed limit. She removed a tape from the stereo and started to reach for another. Jane stopped her hand. 

"I pick the next tape: you, Wagner overtures and interstate highways are too scary of a combination."

"Coward."

"Just exercising the better part of valor." She reached over the seat back and grabbed one of the art supply boxes, revealing it to contain a supply of cassettes. "We're heading for the beach; we need some appropriate music."

"Oh, oh."

Jane slid a tape into the player. "Think you can live with some Jimmy Buffett?"

"If it will keep you in a better mood."

The two listened to the music quietly for a while, each engrossed in their own thoughts. After a couple songs, Jane turned the music down a little. A little sheepishly, she said to Daria. "I need some advice."

Daria gave her friend a sidelong glance, realizing that she was serious. "I'll help any way I can."

"What do you think of me teaching art?"

"I hadn't really thought about it before. I always pictured you in your own studio."

"That's the goal, but you know as well as I do that the odds of making a living doing that straight out of college are thin. I love Trent to death, but I don't want to live like him while I try to get my act together. I'm going to need a day job for at least a while."

"So, thinking about some art education courses at BFAC?"

"Something a little sooner. I saw an ad for an art teaching assistant at Lawndale High."

Daria looked directly at Jane, "We barely got away from there, and you're looking to make a return? Can you imagine having Ms. Li as your boss?"

"Technically, I would be working for Ms. Defoe, but I see your point. However, this would give me a good idea whether or not I'm cut out for teaching. Plus, I'd have more hours in than I can get at Gary's. Mom and Dad never thought that any of their kids would go to college, so they never planned for it. Mom agreed to raid part of their retirement fund to help, but otherwise Janey is on her own as usual."

"Jane, you made a logical case, but I'm worried. You and I have both seen firsthand what happens to teachers there."

"Ms. Defoe has weathered the storm better than most; I'm hoping to hide some behind her. Besides, it will only be for the fall semester, and then I'll be in Boston with you."

"If you can survive there, you could teach in the third circle of Hell."

"Only the third?"

"You help O'Neill or Demartino and you can go deeper."

"I'll pass, thank you very much."

"Jane, while we are bringing things up…"

"Okay, what's your deep, dark secret?"

"Except for holiday visits, I'm thinking of not returning to Lawndale at all. Raft has a fairly complete summer schedule. I might stay in Boston every summer for school."

"Why would you do that? We went to a lot of trouble to have time off this summer; why not during college?"

"Because I suspected that this would be the last summer I would have free like this. I've never had a summer as good as this one before. You are a big reason for that."

"Well, I'm enjoying things, too. Believe me, it's been a lot better than the art colony. But why go nuts once you hit Raft?"

"Jane, I enjoy learning. I'm looking forward to classes that force me to think and to study hard. I'm seriously looking at a double major, and still want to take extra classes. Taking three extra semesters will allow me to do that and still graduate on time. I know that makes me weird. I look forward to sitting in a serious class over the summer as much as you look forward to a blank canvas."

"Kid, I don't really understand, but with you that somehow makes sense. You're a learning junkie. So what am I going to do over the summers?"

"I can't say. Like we agreed, I want to get an apartment once we are free of the dorms. With me planning on staying year-round, we should be able to get a little better rent deal when I can sign for a twelve month lease instead of nine or six."

"I don't know if I can pull the money for that."

"Even if you can't, I did the math and think I could handle rent for three months alone if I take on some extra income. As a plus, I would get the place to myself for the summer if you do decide to return to Casa Lane and come back in the fall. You could also stay over the summer and play it by ear. Your choice."

"I don't know. Have you told your parents yet?"

"No. I don't know how much they will understand. Though they should have a good idea: once they started living in the commune, they never went back to live at home either. It's not like I will feel like I'm returning home. I've seen my Mom's plan to redo my room this fall; it'll be done before Thanksgiving."

"Bummer. I know you don't always get along with them, but don't cut them off. They're good people."

"I know; I need to get a little distance to really appreciate that."

* * *

The bellboy moved their bags from the cart to the floor and turned with a broad smile. Daria tipped him and gave a perfunctory "Thank you" to usher him out. The hotel room had two queen-sized beds, a nice writing desk, easy chair, small refrigerator, coffee pot, and a microwave. As the two started dividing up their baggage and sorting items to drawers and closet, Jane said, "Nice room. Too bad about having a parking lot view, but hey, I can deal." 

"Ocean view would have been nice, if they weren't booked up two months ago. I want to hit a shower after the drive."

"Sounds cool, that'll give me time to set up the easel. After I grab a shower, a pizza fix is in order."

Jane started setting up the easel, thinking back over the last three years. She'd been a friendless outcast with only her brother for support when she met Daria. Their friendship had grown strong, then almost crashed into nothing a year ago. The "Tom Thing" broke the illusion of Daria's perfect logic; she could make horrible mistakes, but could also show great sorrow and remorse at her actions. Jane found she could hurt more than she imagined, but was capable of immense understanding and forgiveness. Now, she was a confident woman with a goal and a solid plan to reach it, and a friendship to back her up that was stronger than ever before.

Daria emerged from the fog-filled bathroom in fresh clothes, carefully brushing her still damp hair. "All yours."

Jane moved swiftly by, "Don't worry, I won't be long. I'm starving."

Daria pulled her diary from the laptop case and sat down at the writing desk. She contemplated how she'd changed from the 15-year old-girl who held her attitude before her as a shield. She'd learned how shields can fail, and how much damage one mistake can cause. She'd learned to reach out, and learned to value the forgiveness of friends. In a way, she saw Nietzsche was right. The last year had not destroyed her, but made her stronger. However, if she'd been alone, she would've been destroyed.

Jane came out, stuffing her wallet in a pocket and tossing her old clothes on the bed. "I noticed a place called De Medici Pizza a couple blocks away. We have to check it out."

Daria placed the diary back in the case, closing it. As the two headed for the door, she stopped and locked both in the room safe, pocketing the key.

* * *

The restaurant interior was brown brick and medium dark stained wood. Jane was partway through her second slice, "First rate crust; excellent stability without being tough. Sauce has a tad too much oregano, excellent cheese and pepperoni density. Jane-Bob says check it out." 

"I can definitely recommend the five-cheese fries."

"Second that," Jane said as she reached over and grabbed a couple more fries. "So, do we have a game plan for tomorrow?"

"The day is just packed. Sleep in, room service breakfast, hit the beach. Power lounging, reading, sketching, moron watching. Possible foray into the water. Late lunch, examine tacky tourist gift shops, lounge some more. Finally return to room, wash the accumulated sand from parts of our bodies we were not previously aware of."

"If we meet any interesting guys?"

"Are you plotting with Quinn? Okay, I'll keep my promise to be civil if they show any signs of higher brain function. I retain the right to run off anything lower on the evolutionary scale."

"Good. Remember, nothing fancy or involved. Just a little pleasant company and conversation. It'll do us both some good."

"Don't know if I think it'll do any good, but I'll cooperate. But if things go wrong, I know where you live."

* * *

Remains of room service breakfasts were scattered on the writing desk and around the easy chair. Two unmade beds and loose items about made the room look alive. Jane sat on one bed, wearing a modest 2 piece-suit with red lower and black upper garments, which displayed her sharply defined, muscled legs and lean runner's form. Mirrored aviator glasses rested on top of her black hair. She watched a slightly red-faced Daria exit the bathroom wearing a blue one-piece swimsuit that accented the soft, graceful curves of her small, slim frame. Instead of her regular glasses, she had on prescription sunglasses, in identical round frames. 

"Daria, I thought we'd gotten you through this. You're allowed to look pretty on occasion."

"I feel half naked."

Jane looked down at her swimsuit. "Hey, I'm closer to three-quarters naked."

"Thank goodness I didn't agree to wear something like that."

"You'd look good, but I don't think it would be humanly possible to drag you out of the room if you did."

"Damn right."

"Anyway. You look nice and that is modest enough that you shouldn't be so self-conscious.

"Thanks. I know you're right, I just have to build myself up to go out wearing this."

Jane started pushing Daria toward the door, "Just like cold water, it's best to jump right in and get it over with."

* * *

Daria carried the small cooler and a light backpack, Jane a sketch pad, her camera, and a small satchel. Beach towels were draped around both girls' necks. The two moved down to the parking lot to meet the late morning. 

Daria looked up from the open trunk and began handing beach gear to Jane. "Looks like this is going to take two trips."

Two vacationing college students watched Jane and Daria unloading their car. One sported brown hair, blue and white striped swim trunks, and a plain grey tank top. The other was blond, had wire-framed glasses, and wore cut-off jeans and a faded red t-shirt marked with a white bull's-eye. After a few minutes, the brown-haired student nodded and led the other toward the two women.

Jane noticed their approach and nudged Daria. "Hey, two guys are coming over."

"Great, all we need is an audience."

"Hey. Maybe we can get them to help."

Daria rolled her eyes in frustration. "We haven't even reached the beach yet and we're about to be accosted."

"They look nice; maybe it won't be that bad."

"No. It could be worse. I'm really not up to dealing with come-ons this early in the day."

Jane was getting annoyed. "Daria. You promised to at least be civil. Give them a chance to make asses of themselves before you blow them off."

Daria looked at Jane and was about to give a sharp retort before remembering her promise. She sighed and said, "I'll be civil."

"Good. They're almost here. Now play nice."

"Right."

The brown-haired young man asked. "Um, would you two like some help with all that?"

Jane said, "I guess a strong back and weak mind or two wouldn't hurt."

The blond pointed his thumb at his associate. "Greg's the weak back." Then shifted the thumb toward himself. "I'm Will, the strong mind."

Daria raised an eyebrow and paused as if mentally debating something. "Hi."

"I'm Jane, this is Daria." Jane gave an exaggerated bow, indicating herself and Daria as she did. Upon rising, she started handing off supplies to the two young men.

* * *

The two women sat next to each other in folding lounge chairs, umbrellas above to provide shade. Beside them were their other personal belongings: cooler, satchel, and backpack. Two beach towels were set on the sand nearby, as well as a large cooler and boom box. Daria quietly wrote in a notebook while Jane sketched the dolphins playing in the surf, her sunglass now down over her eyes. She turned to her friend and gave her a lopsided grin. 

"You and Will seem to be getting along well."

"Their suave and sophisticated approach provided some doubts, but I must admit he's been interesting to talk to. Your game of Frisbee with Greg seemed to go well, though I think he was more interested in watching you jump for that thing than in the actual throwing."

"Daria, he's a guy, of course he was more interested in that."

"That didn't bother you?"

"I was a bit weird, but it was also fun. Kind of nice being the center of attention."

"Just as long as you don't become the faculty sponsor of the Club Formerly Known as Fashion if you take that job at Lawndale High."

"Never, never make that kind of suggestion again, or I will kill you."

"That's more like the Jane I know. I'll stop looking for sea pods."

"Besides, he was only interested and not leering."

"If you say so."

Jane decided to change the subject. "How about a swim before the boys come back with lunch?"

"I could stand to cool down a bit, sure." Daria closed the notebook and put it in the backpack. She removed her glasses and placed them in a hard case. She stood and set it on the backpack, then moved both to her seat. "Please let me know if I'm about to run over somebody on the way."

Jane stood, placed her sunglasses on the sketchpad, and dropped her towel on top of the satchel. Mindful of Daria's poor vision, she fell in step close by and was ready to give a gentle tug to keep her out of harm's way. Giving a sideways glance and a smirk, she said, "Once these suits get wet, they'll cling tighter. I'm sure the boys will appreciate that."

Daria shivered. "I don't want them looking at me like that."

"Daria, it won't hurt anything. The wet suits won't show any detail, just show your curves more clearly."

"This is supposed to make me feel more comfortable?"

"Will has already shown he's interested in more that how you look."

"I despise you."

* * *

Trudging through the soft, dry sand of the upper beach, Gregg carried a makeshift tray made from a cardboard box. Barely contained on it was a selection of hot dogs, ketchup, several different mustards, sauerkraut, onion, relishes, chili, and cheese. Will carried a similar tray of cold drinks, fries, onion rings, plates, napkins and plastic utensils. 

"Greg, looks like you ran into somebody who can keep up with you, and even play bad Frisbee without getting offended."

"What can I say, I like a well-toned woman. Speaking of which, Daria seems to be able to keep up with your geek speak."

"Dude, she has a brain that could slice you into ribbons."

"I hope you've at least noticed how cute she is."

Greg, that's what the glasses are for, so I won't be blind."

Crossing onto firmer, damp sand, their speed increased and they quickly reached the abandoned beach setting. Greg slid Jane's sketchpad out of the way and set his tray down. Will noticed the glasses case on the backpack and set his tray down next to it, careful to not disturb them. Curious, they looked around. Will pointed to the surf line.

"There they are, just having a swim. Why don't we surprise them and get things set up before they get back?"

Greg walked over to their larger cooler and picked it up. "That was actually a reasonably romantic idea; I guess you're not hopeless after all." He set the cooler down between the two chairs. "Let's get to work."

Jane smiled at seeing Greg and Will seated on beach towels near the lounge chairs, lunch spread on top of the large cooler in the middle. "Isn't that sweet. I think they like us."

"Please tell me they haven't done something over-the-top."

"No, they just set up lunch around our chairs."

"Good, I want a nice simple lunch."

"Ah, yes. A simple lunch will be good. The boys will appreciate fewer distractions from how your swimsuit clings."

Daria blushed and looked down. She was able to focus well enough to see that Jane was right. "Forget the knife, just twist the chainsaw counterclockwise."

* * *

Will noted the slower, careful movements of Daria as she approached. He recognized the squint as she moved toward the chair, negotiating the relocated items. He leaned over and picked up the glasses case he'd noticed earlier. He opened it and presented it to Daria, "Be careful, here are your glasses." 

Daria's hand moved in a slow sweep until she touched the case, then carefully grasped it and removed the glasses, placing them on in one practiced motion. She smiled and said, "Um, thanks, Will."

"You're welcome."

Jane sat down and hungrily eyed the spread. "Processed mystery meats in casings backed up with a plethora of strange and/or artificial toppings. You guys certainly know how to make a girl feel special."

Greg sipped his drink and smiled. "We aim to please."

Daria quipped back, "Or at least to pander."

Jane had noted the covert stares from the boys; they were pleased with the wet swimsuits. She thought, _At least Daria got distracted with her glasses and forgot about that. I'll have to remind her later._

Will crawled over to the cooler. "Now that our guests have arrived, can we eat now?"

Greg shook his head and covered his eyes. "The bottomless pit lives. Please keep your hands and feet clear until the danger has passed."

"Come on, Greg, I'm still trying to recover from last year's dorm food and need to pack on reserves." Will piled kraut, chili and cheese onto a pair of hot dogs before retiring to his towel.

* * *

In the late afternoon, the four wandered through a beachside gift shop. Daria had her beach towel around her waist like a skirt; Jane carried hers like a shawl. 

Jane imitated the Sick Sad World reporter. "He we are, the tackiest place on the planet Earth." She held a vaguely human shaped shell sculpture toward Daria like a microphone. "Tell me miss, what horrible event carried you to this god-forsaken edifice of human tastelessness?"

"The irresistible urge of neon pink and lime green polyester."

Will moved up beside Daria. "The artistic mastery of shell sculpture."

Daria added, "Peanut Log Rolls."

Will fired back, "Driftwood centerpieces."

"Towels by the kilo."

"Rose petal marmalade."

Greg whispered to Jane, "He can keep that up for hours."

Jane glanced at Daria and Will and saw that they weren't paying attention to her. She whispered back to Greg, "So can Daria. We could sit back and see who holds out longest."

"But I doubt if we would live long enough to find out whom."

"Hmm, point taken. We better put a stop to this." She pulled the shell sculpture back, "Thank you very much."

Daria and Will startled slightly, recovered, and looked at Jane with slightly disappointed frowns.

Greg put his arm around Will's shoulder and held his hand out toward the two women. "Would you two care for a nice dinner? Our treat."

Will looked confused, then nodded in agreement.

"Lady Jane accepts the kind invitation of Mr. Greg and Mr. Will, and I'm sure Lady Daria will, too." Jane raised an eyebrow and shifted her eyes from Daria to the boys.

Daria tensed momentarily, consciously relaxed, and then played along with Jane. "The Lady Daria accepts the kind gentlemen's invitation to dine."

Greg smiled broadly, "Wonderful. Why don't we pick you up by your car at six? That'll give everyone time to clean up and give our guests a chance to pick a restaurant."

Jane reached and shook Greg's hand. "Deal, we'll see you at six."

* * *

Daria rested on the bed reading the local restaurant guide, wearing a green skirt and black short-sleeved shirt. 

Jane called from the shower, "Arrgh! You were right. I'm finding sand in places I didn't know I had on my body!"

"That's what you get for sitting for two hours making sand sculptures."

"Hey, never fear a new medium."

"Or the chance to freak a new audience. I like the effect you had on the lifeguard when you made the severed leg."

"When art makes people react, you know you did something right. I'm glad the jiffy store across the street had the red food coloring."

Daria heard the shower cut off. "Do we know what we're doing?"

A wet Jane poked her head out from the door. "They've been well behaved all day, so I think they'll stay that way. If not, I know you carry that bear-strength pepper spray, and I also have a can of regular strength. Plus the dirty tricks from Barch's 'Take Back the Night' class."

"I hope we never need to use those moves. Some of them still make me queasy."

* * *

Jane leaned against the rental car, wearing jeans and a red blouse. Daria nervously sat on the car trunk. 

Jane turned toward her friend. "Don't be so nervous. It's just dinner with a couple of nice guys."

"Do you realize that I'm actively taking one of Quinn's suggestions? She told me to have a cute guy buy me dinner."

"So, you think Will is cute?"

Daria quietly grumbled before saying, "Yes, if you insist."

Jane laughed and made pulling motions with her hands, "Kicking and screaming, you are being dragged into something like the human race. Though hearing you two discuss what could have happened if Bismarck had seen a high school cafeteria kitchen instead of just sausage makers makes me doubt the full human part."

A dusty gunmetal Camaro drove up, probably five years old or more but reasonably maintained. Will briefly stepped out, pulled the passenger seat forward, and crawled into the back seat behind Greg, motioning for Daria to follow.

After Daria was settled, Jane put the seat back and grinned. "Oh yeah, I get shotgun."

Greg turned to Jane. "Have you ladies made a choice about where we'll eat?"

Jane held the restaurant guide open and pointed. "Seafood seems to be just the ticket. Why come all the way to the ocean if you don't want to eat dead fish?"

Daria directed toward Jane, "Keep your dead fish; I have my eye on some prime crustacean."

Greg nodded. "Sounds good to me, and Will back there will even eat cut bait, so I'm sure he's happy."

Jane and Daria looked at Will, who responded, "It was good, fresh mullet, buying it as bait let me get a good price on it." The two looked a little relieved, but not completely.

Greg looked at the guide, then to a local road map, muttered a few moments, and traced his finger on the map. "Okay, I've got it."

Will leaned between the front seats and whispered to Jane, "Keep an eye on the map. Without a navigator, he gets lost going off-campus."

* * *

Despite Will's dire warnings, the restaurant proved to be easy to find. The décor could be best described as Mid-Atlantic Nautical Standard. As the four walked to the door, Daria pulled Jane slightly aside and whispered, "Do you realize that was the first time we've been called ladies that I didn't want to throw up or try to kick somebody's scrotum through their nostrils?" 

"Daria, have you considered the chance that they think we're nice?"

"I suppose you're right. I not used to that. Am I getting soft?"

Jane shook her head and nudged Daria forward back toward their dates.

* * *

The room was mostly filled, so the hostess led them through a maze of filled tables to reach theirs. They quickly seated themselves and silently began reading menus. A waitress arrived minutes later with water glasses, asking, "May I take your drink order to start off with?" 

Greg: "Ultra Cola."

Jane: .Cola Blast."

Will: "Coffee, cream and sugar."

Daria: "Hot tea, Darjeeling if you have it."

They quietly went back to their menus, with occasional glances at the person they had spent the day with. A few minutes later, the waitress was back with drinks and to take their dinner order.

Greg: "Steamed clams"

Jane: "Blackened mahi mahi."

Will: "Jumbo sampler platter."

Daria: "Broiled shrimp in carbonara sauce."

With the menus taken away by the waitress, hiding was impossible.

Greg broke the silence. "Daria. Will mentioned that you sold a short story. That's pretty cool."

Daria smiled a little. 'Thanks. Jane here is becoming the darling of the local art society."

"I've been able to sell a couple paintings at the local gallery. Must admit I like the cash."

Will's shoulders slumped a little. "Wow, you two are really something, already off to a good start with your careers. Makes me wonder why you'd want to hang around with a couple of nobodies like us."

Greg shook his head. "Will has these delusions of mediocrity."

Daria hesitated, and then lightly touched Will's hand. "You're right, we wouldn't want to hang around with a couple of nobodies, so instead we spent the day with a couple of intelligent, interesting gentlemen."

Jane leaned over toward Will. "What was Greg telling me about you being a National Merit Scholar in Chemistry?"

Will blushed slightly. "Um, yeah, glad I got it. The scholarship that goes with it has been the only way I could afford school. My parents don't have a lot."

Greg tapped his glass with a spoon. "Okay all you fruit loops and outcasts, we're gathered here for a good time and a meal, so let's keep things strictly on the matters at hand."

Jane flicked a piece of ice from her drink at him. "Sounds good to me."

Daria looked at Greg. "Only if you count yourself as one of us. Will mentioned your invite to that conference at Taliesin West."

Greg squirmed a little and thought about how this talk made him and his friend self-conscious. He sought another distraction and motioned toward the approaching waitress. "Hey, dinner has arrived."

* * *

The four stood near the rental car, a slight sense of awkwardness all around, more so for Will and Daria. 

Jane made the first move, playfully wrapping her arms around Greg's neck and giving him a kiss. "Thank you for such a wonderful day and night."

Greg returned the kiss and responded, "The pleasure has been mine. Please have a safe trip home and my best wishes, always."

Daria's left hand was in Will's right. She watched Jane and thought, _Now he's going to expect the same. What the hell. He's been kind and polite, and a nice guy to talk to_. She leaned upward onto her toes, placed her right hand on his shoulder, and gave him a light kiss. "Thank you, I had fun today."

Will looked stunned for a moment. Recovering, he looked straight at Daria. "Uhhh, you're welcome."

"Daria stepped back a little. "Good bye and good luck on the studies."

"Good bye. Thank you too for being such good company." Will turned and started walking back to the car. Greg gave Jane a brief hand squeeze and followed.

* * *

As the two men reached the Camaro, Greg gave Will a friendly push on the shoulder. "There, you goof. I said you could have a good time without embarrassing yourself." 

Will smiled, "I guess I didn't. Thanks for dragging me out. I can't believe a girl that brilliant and pretty would even bother to give me the time of day."

"Like I said, give yourself a chance occasionally. You're not a loser."

"I yield, you win." Will's smile faded. "Too bad we'll never see them again. I doubt if I'll ever meet someone like her."

"Somehow I have the feeling they're going to make it, so we might just hear about them some time in the future."

* * *

Daria and Jane had changed into their typical nightwear of t-shirts and shorts. Daria was at the writing desk with her diary and Jane was sketching the lifeguard's reaction to her sand sculpture on a canvas placed on the easel. 

Daria looked up. "Jane thanks for not letting me run away this morning. I had a good time and the boys made the day more interesting."

"What are friends for?"

"You're usually good for a swift kick."

"My pleasure."

"You enjoy it too much. But," Daria paused in thought, "because you gave me that swift kick, I feel different about myself after today. It was obvious the boys were enjoying our appearance, that still creeps me out, but I could deal with you there. More importantly, they thought who we were was enjoyable and attractive. I liked that."

You've had guys treat you like that before.

"Only after they had known me for a while. This was different. They wanted to know us right from the start, even though they'd only see us for one day."

"Not everyone's a bastard or a lecherous pervert."

"Today proved that to me."

"You are getting soft."

"Maybe a little, but if any hands had gone astray, they would have been sucking bear repellent."

Jane smiled at that and returned to penciling.

"Jane, I hope you don't mind if I bring up one more thing."

"Probably not."

"Today put an end to my last regrets about breaking up with Tom. I know there are good men out there and one will be right for me. I can stop worrying that I left the only guy who could stand being with me."

"Good. You finally realized that. Tom was basically a good guy, just..."

"Not right for either of us."

"Exactly. So, will I have an easier time dragging you to parties in Boston?"

"No."

Jane gave her a conspiratorial grin. "We'll see."

* * *

"Damn fine trip. Thanks Amiga." Jane was behind the wheel of the Taurus, pacing traffic flow. 

"Hey, it was your idea. I just made sure we had a good hotel and didn't break down on the side of the road trying to take Trent's car."

"Like I said, thanks. If we'd taken off with my half-baked plans, this weekend would've been a disaster."

"Like a Mystik Spiral road trip?"

"Maybe they can hire you as their manager."

"Not a chance. I like Trent and the band too much."

"So you do still like him?"

Daria put her hand to her eyes and thought, "Here we go again," before replying, "Yes."

Jane looked sidelong at Daria and chuckled, "Just kidding. I'm not trying to get you two together."

"Good."

Jane glanced again at Daria, thinking, "But what is up with the two of them?"

* * *

Daria was on the phone at the Lane residence. "Trent gave us a hand, so Jane's stuff has been unloaded. I'll meet you at the rental agency in thirty minutes. Okay, see you then, bye." 

Daria could hear Jane talking to Trent. "I burned through three rolls of film; I should have plenty of stuff to work on for months. Even got a few of Daria in her swim suit."

"She didn't try to gouge your eyes out for that?"

"She threatened a bit, but I think she's getting a little soft, or at least comfortable with herself."

Daria marched into the room. "Maybe a little of both. But if you paint anything embarrassing, I still have the wasabi powder."

"At least you're not threatening to make sushi out of me. Don't forget, though, if you try anything, Quinn will get a duplicate set of negatives."

Daria smirked and shook her head. "I have to get going, meeting Mom to drop off the car. Thanks for helping us unload, Trent. Thanks for a fun weekend, Jane."

"You too. Think of how much you can freak Jake when you tell him we spent the day with a couple of college guys."

Trent added, "You're welcome, Daria. Have a safe trip home."

* * *

Helen held the front door of the Morgendorffer home open as Daria maneuvered her suitcases into the house. "Don't worry about the rest; I'll have your father bring it in later." 

Jake looked up from where he sat on the sofa, watching television. "Hey Daria, have a good time?"

"Actually, yes I did."

"Are you sure you went to the beach? You don't look sunburned."

"Jane and I met a couple of nice young men who were happy apply to plenty of SPF 45."

"What! You let….oh, that's a good one, Daria."

Helen placed her hands on her hips, remembering Daria telling her about the two nice college students they spent the day with. "Jake."

"One was a chemistry student and the other architecture. They were very polite and did make sure we had on enough sunscreen without letting their fingers do the walking."

Jake made a visible effort to calm down while he mentally reminded himself that his eldest was a responsible adult that wasn't groped, nor was she joking. "I'm sure you and Jane kept them on their best behavior."

Quinn peered down from the mid-point of the stairs. "Well, were they at least cute?"

"Yes, Dad, but we didn't need to. You can relax. Yes, Quinn, they were cute. And yes, you may gloat, they bought dinner for us."

Quinn continued down the stairs. "Oh Daria, I just knew you had it in you!"

Daria raised one eyebrow and stared momentarily at her sister's sarcasm. "Good delivery, I knew you had it in you, too. We found a great seafood place. I'll give you the details so you can find it if you make a trip next year."

"Oh, that would be so great, thanks."

"If you're nice, I'll throw in a few tips on picking up guys at the beach."

"Get real. Sit back and watch a pro, Grasshopper."

Helen watched her daughters banter as they ascended the stairs, heartened at how they were now getting along and avoiding the habits she fell into with her sisters. The two were rubbing off on each other: Quinn becoming a little more sarcastic and Daria a little more social. She wryly thought, _They'll make a scary team if they decide to cooperate. I pity the fool who stands against them.

* * *

_

Thanks to Isa Yo Jo, Steven Galloway, Mahna Mahna, brooklyn33, Parker-man, Ranger Thorne, Decelaraptor, MrMagnum, and Roger E. Moore for commentary.

Thanks to Kristen Bealer, Robert Nowall for beta reading and detailed commentary.

June 2004  
Revised January 2005


	7. Something For You

Disclaimer: This Daria and associated characters are owned by MTV. This is fan fiction written for entertainment only. No money or other negotiable currency or goods have been exchanged.

This is the seventh and last story in the Last Summer series.

Richard Lobinske

**Something For You**

Daria stood uncomfortably in the Morgendorffer living room, directly in front of the television. An empty pizza box sat on the coffee table, surrounded by soiled paper plates and drink cups. Two neat stacks of printed paper sat on heavy manila folders occupied the remaining table space.

"Now that we've accepted the charter, I'll pass this on to our executive sponsor, Ms. Murphey. Since she'll have the opportunity, Jane will deliver a copy of the charter to our school sponsors."

Seated on the sofa section to Daria's left, Mack gave Jane a questioning gaze. Jodie, leaning against Mack, added a raised eyebrow.

Jane looked a little sheepish from where she lounged on the right-hand sofa section. "Ms. Defoe hired me as her teaching assistant for the fall trimester and the first half of winter."

Jodie looked incredulous. "I pictured you as someone who would never set foot back in that school."

"Hey. It's full-time work, and I can really use the money for BFAC. Plus, it's hard to say no to Claire."

Daria looked a Jane. "Yeah, you're such a hard-nose." She turned her attention to Mack. "One final order of business. As our designated observer, are you of the opinion that our primary purpose has been achieved: to preserve the sanity of one Jodie Landon?"

Mack looked down at his smiling girlfriend. "It's my opinion that we've succeeded beyond expectations."

Jodie bowed her head in slight embarrassment as Daria and Jane lightly clapped. Daria spoke again, "With that excellent news, I hereby close the final summer session of the Lawndale High School Student Leaders Honor Society." Daria sat in the arm chair. "That's over with."

Jodie looked at the other three. "Everyone has been wonderful to do this for me. Thanks again." Smiling, she looked specifically at Jane and then Daria. "I can see how you two got used to having leisure time, I like it."

Jane grinned. "I see you're hooked. Our evil plan succeeded."

Daria gave a small smile. "We're the ones your parents warned you about."

Jodie laughed at the two. "Be careful, Daria. My evil plans worked on you." She pointed at the printed society charter.

"Got you there, Morgendorffer." Jane shook her finger at Daria.

Jodie turned a somewhat predatory smile toward Jane. "I'm sure Ms. Defoe would agree my plans have worked quite well."

Jane quickly turned toward Jodie and dropped her finger. "Damn you, and your insidious good example."

"I learned a few tricks over the years to convince people to do the right thing." Jodie had smiled.

Daria asked, "What are your plans now?"

Jodie sighed. "I hate to see the summer end. I leave this weekend for Turner. Because I'm a legacy, I've been invited to arrive early and get settled before the other freshman. It'll also get me away from my parents a week early."

Mack's mood dimmed a little. "Good for her, bad for me. I won't leave for Vance until the end of the month."

Daria added, "Same time I leave."

"Be glad you're not hanging around here another four months like I have to." Jane added with a grump. "But then, look at what kind of deep doo-doo I'd be in money-wise if I left the same time as all of you."

Daria grinned wickedly. "Think of how much fun you can have with Ms. Li as a school insider. I wish Ms. Defoe had a camera when she told Ms. Li that one of her favorite outcasts would be back as teaching staff."

"Kid, I like your thinking."

* * *

_With a soft sigh of relief, Melody slowly eased herself into the almost scalding bath water. Overworked, bruised muscles relaxed as the heat soaked in. Melody thought as she drifted off to sleep, "Finally, I can finish my bath."_

Daria looked up from the stack of papers as she finished reading the story to Mrs. Blaine. The older lady once again enjoyed the imaginative writing of the young woman who'd read to her every week for much of the last two years. The old habits of a literature teacher remained with Mrs. Blaine. Daria's writing was the kind that teachers yearn to encounter and savor when they read it. Enjoyable also was the creative interplay as they discussed the stories. She secretly enjoyed the envy of the other residents, who'd driven Daria away in favor of the more popular Kevin and Brittany. However, those two disappeared after only one week of "community service" while Daria had continued to visit. It started the week her old hearing aid had failed and before she had her new one. The joke to put the unpopular girl with the deaf woman had turned on all.

"Thank you so much."

"You're welcome.

"The section after Melody enters the power plant seemed a little choppy."

"Hmm." Daria shuffled pages to that point in the story. "You might be right. I've made a note."

"You might want to work on the chase; you lost me some in a couple places."

Daria sorted papers again. "Got it."

"Good thing you were able to finish the story before leaving for school. I wouldn't want to wait for the ending. Are you going to have a chance to stop by before you leave?"

"I'll be packing and getting ready to go the next couple weeks. I won't be able to read to you again until Thanksgiving break. I'm sorry I won't be able to keep coming by. After that, I'm only going to make it on holiday and intersession breaks. Like I mentioned to you, I want to attend the summer semesters."

"Don't worry, dear, I understand. I was a young woman going off to college once myself."

"I'm going to miss this."

Mrs. Blaine reached to the small table nearby and picked up a slender wooden box. She presented it to Daria. "I know you can't stop by much anymore, but please write me."

Daria curiously took the small box and examined the worn, well cared-for surface. Inside, she found a silver fountain pen nestled in a worn velvet fitted case. A faded note was attached to the inside of the lid.

_**August 1929**_

_**My fondest wishes this will serve you well in college.**_

_**Mother**_

Daria was quiet for a few moments before whispering, "Thank you. This must be very important to you. Are you sure?"

"Yes, dear. I never had a daughter of my own to pass that on to. It wouldn't have meant the same thing to either of my sons. You've been a blessing to me, and it seems fitting to pass it on to a writer like yourself. You can appreciate how much more elegant it is."

"Wow, I don't know what to say."

"I'm sure the words will come to you eventually."

* * *

Daria stood in the center of her room wearing the clothes that helped her survive high school. Arms crossed in front of her, she stared forward emotionlessly. Jane snapped a photo, and then moved to the next wall while Daria rotated to face her. Jane took another photo. The process repeated twice more until all four walls of the room were photographed.

"Thanks, Jane."

"No problem, your room is now preserved for posterity. Too bad the real thing won't survive; this is still such a cool place."

"Mom's tried to remodel since we moved in. Once I'm gone, there'll be nobody to stop her. I've resigned myself to it. In the meantime, I'll have to pack up and move everything out of here so the contractors can do their job. Once they're done, a part of me will be gone with it."

"You haven't been able to change her mind?"

"She's adamant."

"Have you told her about your plans to stay at Raft during the summers?"

"No. She'd see it as a threat to stop her remodeling the room, and react badly. Besides, the more I've thought about it, the more it makes sense. I can get so much more out of college if I take those opportunities. I have eight months to figure out a way to tell her and Dad."

"Knowing you, it'll take all eight months."

"Probably."

Daria motioned Jane with a nod and the two went to the hall and returned with boxes. Daria picked up a marker pen and wrote "Books - Storage box 1" on a box and "Books - Raft box 1" on a second, before setting both down on the floor next to a shelf unit. Jane took a seat cross-legged on the floor between them. Daria started slowly removing books from the shelves, examining them, pondering, then handing them to Jane, nodding to indicate the proper box.

She said after the first couple, "Feels like triage, trying to decide which will live with me and which ones go into the attic."

"So, what about the anatomical models?"

"Hey, let's keep our priorities straight, they come with me."

"I feel for your roommate."

"Probably won't be any worse than what they'll bring. At least after sharing a room with Quinn as a child, I'm ready to face almost anything."

"You two shared a room? When was this and how much bloodshed occurred?"

"Before we moved to the house in Highland. Not much blood, we were too young to reach the knives and Mom kept our fingernails trimmed short."

"No biting?"

"You think I'd put my lips on that?"

"Hmm. Point. Hey, what about the poetry in the closet?"

"I made pencil rubbings of all the walls to preserve the original feel."

What about the padding? Too bad you can't save any of that."

Daria stopped pulling books and thought for a few moments. "You're right. I'll have to think of something."

* * *

Helen looked at the cover letter and manuscript on the kitchen table with pleasure. Daria had been writing and submitting to magazines all summer as her dedicated activity. Helen had seen the idea for what it was, a ploy to avoid a structured activity like counselor at Mr. O'Neill's day camp. But, as she'd hoped, it proved to be a wonderful experience for her daughter. After the trauma of her first rejection letter last spring, Daria had learned to deal better with them. She had one story accepted for publication, quite an accomplishment for someone her age.

Helen accepted the offered clipboard and pen to sign the attached paper. "Signed with a mother's pride, sweetie. I'm so proud of what you've done this summer."

"Ah, Mom."

Helen smiled. "You deserve it, even if you don't want to admit it."

"Deal, I won't admit to it." Daria looked down for a moment. "But I will admit to having a good time."

"If you say so." Helen still marveled at how confident Daria could be in so many situations, but remain so shy in cases like this.

Helen looked at the pen; she'd never noticed Daria use a fountain pen before. "Where did you get the pen?"

"Mrs. Blaine."

"The lady you visited at the nursing home?"

"That's her. I've been reading my stories to her ever since I had to do that community service work for the school. She's given me a lot of good advice on my writing. The pen was a gift yesterday as a reminder to write to her from college. Mrs. Blaine's mother gave it to her when she left for college. I get the feeling she thinks of me as a daughter she never had."

"That's quite a sentimental thought. I can see why she would think of you as a daughter. Kind of feel that way myself."

An explosion of noise erupted from the front door. Quinn arrived with Joey, Jamie, and Jeffy in tow, all carrying packages from Cashman's.

"Hi, Mom, Daria." Turning to her escorts, she said, "Just set everything down by the sofas."

A discordant chorus of, "Okay, Quinn"…"I'll take care of it Quinn"…"No problem, Quinn," arose from the three boys as the jostled each other to set down packages.

With her mother and sister in the kitchen, Quinn knew that the boys stampede to get her a soft drink would be disastrous. She walked to the kitchen and called over her shoulder, "You boys have been so kind, let me get each of you a nice cold drink."

"Cool."…"Anything from you is good."…"You're the greatest, Quinn."

"No need to get up Mom, I'll handle everything." Quinn looked at Daria's green shorts and black t shirt emblazoned with a galaxy and an arrow captioned "You are here." She shook her head. "Where do you get those shirts?"

Meanwhile, the three J's milled around the living room until Jeffy noticed the new family portrait. "Cool painting, Quinn, you look real hot."

Joey added, "Extra hot, Quinn,"

Jeffy looked over annoyed. "Hey, I saw it first."

Joey pushed back. "You just yelled first."

While the other two were arguing, Jamie looked at the painting; stepped aside some to see Daria, looked back at the painting, and again looked at Daria. Quinn looked hot in the painting; Daria was mesmerizing.

Quinn hurried back with a tray holding four sodas. After hearing the discussion heat up, she knew she had to act quickly to avoid a fight inside the house. Approaching, she noticed Jamie was gazing at the painting in something like a trance while the other two argued off to the side.

"Okay, guys. The drinks are here. Daria's little art friend did that for us. You know, I think that is my best side."

Joey and Jeffy stopped talking and turned their attention immediately to Quinn. Jamie slowly turned, looked over his shoulder toward the painting again, then back to Quinn. Distracted, he muttered, "Yeah, Quinn, best side," and followed the rest to the sofas to sit around Quinn.

Daria leaned over toward her mother and whispered, "Is it me, or was Jamie acting a little odd?"

"I think he just noticed you."

"Mom, those three have been hanging on Quinn's every motion for three years, why'd he suddenly notice me?"

"Boys can be that way. They can see you for years and then finally notice you out of the blue."

Daria was about to speak when she observed Jamie surreptitiously look over his shoulder toward her, then quickly away after noticing her attention. "Oh god, you're right."

The telephone ringing broke the conversation. Helen answered.

"Hello…Yes. A Daria Morgendorffer is here…Just a moment."

Helen passed the cordless phone to her.

"Yes, this is Daria…Yes, I have."

There was a long silence as Daria's eyes flashed open wide, then she slid back in her chair as all will to stay upright vanished and color drained from her face.

Daria's voice was a hoarse whisper, "Thank you for calling" and cut the connection.

Helen couldn't remember seeing such a reaction in her daughter. This looked worse than the time Daria came to her after kissing Tom for the first time.

"Daria, what's the matter?"

Daria closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly releasing it, she said in a carefully metered, controlled voice, "Mom, please distract Quinn and the boys while I go up to my room. Follow me up in a couple of minutes."

Helen silently nodded and walked to the living room. "Looks like you've had a busy day today, Quinn. Boys, how are you doing?"

Daria carefully and quietly skirted the wall to reach the stairs as her mother talked with the boys. Quinn recognized her mother's distraction tactic and watched out of the corner of her eye with concern as Daria moved up the stairs. She needed to get the boys out of the house quickly.

"I just thought of something. How about some nice frozen yogurt after being out in the hot sun? My treat."

"Great."…"You're so thoughtful."…"I'll drive."

She got up from her seat and started toward the front door. The three boys responded and moved to the door in front of her. Jamie lagged behind the other two when he noticed Daria was no longer in the kitchen. With the boys safely moving and looking away, Quinn looked at her mother and motioned upward with her eyes.

"I'll be back in an hour or so." She grabbed her purse and followed the boys through the door.

* * *

Helen slowly opened the bedroom door after softly knocking. Daria sat on the bed with her hands folded in her lap, staring straight ahead. Helen sat down beside her daughter and placed her hand on Daria's wrist.

"Take your time: I can wait until you're ready to talk."

Daria swallowed and softly said, "Mrs. Blaine's dead. Stroke."

Helen's voice was gentle and sympathetic. "There's nothing I could say to make you feel better right now. Losing someone you care for is too painful for mere words to help. However, if you want, I'll stay here with you.

Daria looked at her mother and gave a slight nod. She closed her eyes leaned against Helen's shoulder. Helen put her arm around her daughter and pulled her a little closer.

* * *

Daria arrived alone at the sparsely attended funeral wearing a black dress shirt and slacks fitted over her freshly polished boots. Unusually, she carried a purse, which partially concealed a black covered binder. Several residents and staff of the nursing home were there. Daria recognized a bald, mid-sixties man as Mrs. Blaine's surviving son. She thought she recognized a red-headed woman in her thirties and a rotund, fortyish man with gray hair as grandchildren. The others gave her little notice as she approached the coffin. She felt a great sadness at the slight unreality of Mrs. Blaine's appearance.

She leaned forward and whispered, "Sorry I won't have the chance to write you. But I brought you something."

Daria looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to her. Nobody was, so she slid the binder from under her purse and slipped it into the coffin, sliding it back out of sight. "Here are all of my Melody Powers stories for you. So you can have something to read if you need it."

Keeping tight control of her emotions, she found a seat by herself and settled in for some private contemplation.

The service was short and nondenominational. Mrs. Blaine's son Len gave a brief eulogy, telling of her life as a wealthy daughter, college student, teacher, wife, and mother. He told of how she had lost her husband and one son. He finished by mentioning her stay at Better Days Nursing Home and visits from a young woman Mrs. Blaine referred to as a fresh voice of life.

Minutes later and lost deep in thought, Daria didn't notice Len sit down in the chair directly in front and turn to face her.

"Excuse me. Daria?"

Startled slightly, she looked at Len. "Yes."

"Your visits meant a lot to Mother. She refused to leave Lawndale to be closer to me or my children in Oregon. After sixty years I suppose you do get attached to a place. So we rarely had the chance to come and visit. I'm not excusing our lack of visits, just appreciating yours.

"She mentioned where you were and said she couldn't stand the place. She never blamed you for the few visits. Your mom was always happy when you did visit. She stayed where she was happy; I don't think we could ask for much more ourselves."

"Mother wouldn't have been happy in Oregon. I am glad you were here for her."

"I'm glad I got to know her."

Len patted her arm and rose. "You are welcome to ride with us."

Daria shifted uncomfortably at the offer. "Thanks for the offer. I need to be alone now, if you don't mind."

Len noticed the slight crack in her voice. "I understand." He silently stood and joined the other family members at the coffin. When Len noticed a pall bearer reach toward the partially hidden binder inside the coffin, he softly stopped the hand and gave a slight nod.

She sat silent and still until everyone was gone. Slowly, she let down her control and allowed the tears to come.

* * *

The next couple of days were occupied with Daria preparing to leave. She was at her desk filling out change-of-address cards, with the dorm address Raft assigned to her last week, when the doorbell rang. Daria walked downstairs and opened the door to reveal a well-groomed man in a black suit and dark blue tie. Resting beside him was an aged steamer trunk on a red hand truck. The man looked at a clipboard and asked, "Good morning. Are you Ms. Daria Morgendorffer?"

Daria warily answered, "Yes. I am."

"My name is Ellis Baker. Mrs. Theresa Blaine left this bequest to you in her will. Could you please provide some form of photo identification?"

Daria gave Mr. Baker a confused look. "One moment." She closed the door and walked to the living room to retrieve her wallet. She opened it to her driver's license as she returned.

After looking at the presented evidence, Mr. Baker handed Daria the clipboard. "Please sign to confirm the bequest was delivered directly to you."

After she signed, Mr. Baker handed her an envelope. "This goes with the bequest. Would you like me to bring this inside?" He waved his hand over the trunk.

"Oh." Daria stepped aside and waved the man in.

He wheeled the trunk to the living room and gently set it down. After pulling the hand truck away, he leaned the trunk over to rest on its bottom.

"Please, have a good day." With that, he quietly exited the house.

Daria saw her name written in flowing ink on the envelope. Mrs. Blaine had always used a fountain pen if she had the option. This was probably written with the one she had given Daria last week. With a mix sadness and curiosity, she opened the envelope and unfolded the letter.

_**October 1998**_

_**Dear Daria,**_

_**After hearing your lovely stories every week for the last year, I realized that you would appreciate this gift the most. I have kept a diary since I was twelve; every volume is here. I give you the story of my life because you have cared enough to include me in yours, and to share your imagination with me. Perhaps these words will give you insight to what life was like through so much of this century. Maybe they will give you insight to yourself if you see something familiar. I know you will care for them well.**_

_**Theresa Blaine**_

Daria gently set the letter on the coffee table. She knelt in front of the trunk and slid the catch open.

"Your diary. What did I do to deserve this kind of trust?"

She slowly opened the lid and looked inside. Numerous books of different shapes and colors filled the box. Each was marked for the year, reminding Daria of how she labeled her diaries. Examining them, she found the volumes to be in order, from the first dated 1923 to the newest marked 1999. The latter volume she removed and thumbed through the pages to the last entry.

_**Aug. 13, 1999**_

_**Daria enjoyed the gift today. I think she'll put it to good use. I won't have the chance to see her again until her Thanksgiving break. I've been spoiled by her attention and will miss her greatly. It will be interesting to see what she writes about from college. That will give me something new to look forward to.**_

* * *

Daria pushed the bedroom door open with her foot and entered, both arms filled with boxes and shopping bags. Jane followed behind with a similar burden. The room was very different from usual. The bookshelves were eerily empty. The familiar cheese wedge and reproduction bones were nowhere to be seen. The desktop computer was boxed beside the work desk. The Kafka poster was gone from the wall, along with the half-exhumed skeleton print. A few boxes were placed along the wall, all marked "Raft", with a caption of the box contents. Along the wall next to the closet door was the steamer trunk. Daria's packing was almost complete and the room looked to be losing its soul.

Jane was taken slightly aback. Her friend was leaving soon and the proof was in front of her. Not wanting to think about that, she decided it was time to needle Daria about their shopping trip.

"Let me guess. Biggest shopping spree you've been on in your life?"

"You're not kidding. I didn't realize I would pick up so much stuff."

"Well, that proves it. You are the Material Girl."

"Jane, just for that one comment, I hope the Mother's Curse hits you with full effect."

Jane backed away, warding Daria away with two armloads of packages. "Okay. No more comments about She Who Must Not Be Named."

Daria gave Jane a quick glance, and then surveyed the booty before her. A small microwave, compact cookware, small eating utensil set, towels, bed linens, and more normally unthought-of items that she would need for even the limited housekeeping in a dorm. "Why don't we just dump the bags in the packing boxes? I really don't need to see these things until I'm in the dorm, so why pull them from the bags just to put them in a shipping box?"

"Sounds kind of like a plan, or plain lazy."

"Most great plans and inventions arose from the desire to get things done with the least amount of effort. In other words, laziness."

"The Logic of Lethargy. I like that."

"Thought you would."

Jane walked to the steamer trunk. A small padlock had been put on the catch.

"So this is it."

Daria looked over at Jane standing next to the trunk. "Mrs. Blaine's diary. Seventy-six years of a person's life recorded in detail."

"Locked too. Before you freak out, I'm not going to ask to see any of it."

"Good. Letting somebody else read it would be like letting someone read mine."

"And we know how likely that is to happen."

"I've read some. She wanted me to, but I feel like some kind of voyeur peeking in a window."

"Well, I guess that means you won't be logging onto any more webcams."

"Once is curiosity, twice is perversion. Since the only one I looked at was yours, I'm not a pervert yet."

"I bet. I've observed you people watching before to get story ideas. You can't resist."

"But that's a case of watching people in interesting situations, not like a webcam."

"I'd think that some of those would be considered interesting."

"I'm not interested in writing that."

"At least until you get desperate enough." Jane smirked.

"Jane, I'll start writing stuff like that about the same time you get me to pose nude."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Think. You've previously made the comment about experiencing six signs of the apocalypse this summer, do you want the seventh?"

"Damn your logic."

Daria smiled at the verbal victory.

"Seriously though, are you going to read more?"

"In time. Reading about so many historical events from the viewpoint of somebody writing at the time will be interesting. Almost like having a time machine."

"Hey, I could paint the trunk to look like a London Police Box"

"No!"

"You're no fun."

"Remember, I don't do fun."

"Oh, yeah. I'll ask Will about that."

"You got me. I do fun on a special order basis." Daria smiled a little at the reminder of their trip to the beach a couple weeks ago.

"Back to the diary, why you?"

Looking toward the trunk again, Daria answered, "I think she gave it to me because I was close enough to her to appreciate it, but not so close that it could cause problems with something I read."

"In other words, somebody who could read it and not get ticked off about her opinion of Great Aunt Matilda."

"Exactly."

"As well as somebody who could keep a confidence."

"I guess."

"I know."

"I presume you would. Thanks for helping with all this." Daria sat on the bed, picked up the remote and turned the television on. "I left the TV hooked up to the cable for now. How about we order in a garbage pizza with a side order of cheese fries and sit down to a final night of intelligent viewing?"

Jane sat beside her and leaned back. "Now that sounds like a good plan." She grabbed the cordless telephone and hit the speed-dial for Pizza Prince.

The television flickered to life with the familiar bull's-eye logo. "They get together for a wild time, and end up splattered on your car! Flying insect orgies invade our highways. Next on _Sick, Sad World_!"

* * *

The next morning was a jumble of activity. Helen insisted on a home-cooked pancake breakfast before leaving, one that took twice as long to cook because of Eric's persistent calls.

"Okay, Eric…I have to go…Yes, I really do…I will talk to you Monday…Good bye."

Helen set the phone down on the table. "Sometimes that man is as helpless as a baby."

Jake, Quinn and Daria sat around the kitchen table as if it were any other morning, each engrossed in their own reading. For nostalgia's sake, Daria had dressed in her black skirt and green jacket of high school days. Somehow, arriving at college dressed the same way seemed appropriate. Hearing the cell phone set down beside her, Daria watched her mother move back into the kitchen. She snaked her hand out to the offending communication device and pressed the power button. After thinking a few moments, she set the paper down on the phone and walked toward the kitchen, quietly removing the line for the cordless phone base unit from the wall jack. Nonchalantly, she continued into the kitchen.

"At least you don't have to change his diaper."

Helen cringed a little at the mental image. "Oh. I suppose."

"Would you like a little help with breakfast?"

"I'm glad to have you."

"Since I'm going off to college, I figured now might be a good time to learn how to cook."

Helen gave Daria a slight smirk.

Daria reached over to the small television. "Mind if I turn on the weather report for our trip?" She thought, _That should generate enough noise to hide the upstairs phones for now_.

Daria stood next to Helen. "Okay, where do we begin?"

* * *

After breakfast, the carefully planned loading of the SUV quickly dissolved into chaos. Soon after the post-breakfast activity started, Daria's trick with the phones had been discovered.

"Mom. Dad. What do you mean I can only take one suitcase?" Quinn yelled from her room. She looked at the gift-wrapped package nestled to one side of her suitcase, _How am I going to take enough clothes to look good on a college campus and still sneak Daria's present with?_ Quinn thought about how well she got along with Daria now, after long years of rivalry. She would miss the sharp humor and commentary. What she was going to miss the most was the gentle nudges to harsh kicks Daria used to motivate Quinn to help herself. Daria still had problems openly showing her emotions. However, Quinn knew those apparently emotionless prods from her sister were rooted in how much she cared. Despite years of calling Daria "cousin", Quinn was not looking forward to a year as an only child. Having her parents' undivided attention worried her. Quinn knew that Daria would only be a phone call or an email away. She hoped that would be enough. Quinn forced herself to pay attention to the current crisis of packing enough clothes in a partial suitcase. She pulled two pairs of jeans from the suitcase and a couple of shirts. Sitting down on her bed in frustration, she looked out the window. The bright sunlight reminded her of the summer's heat and she said , "Hot weather clothes take up less space!" With a renewed vigor, she started packing light shirts and shorts into the suitcase. "I'm going to really look cute for the guys in these."

* * *

Jake shouted in frustration as he attempted to organize Daria's packages in the back of the SUV. "Why can't they make boxes and suitcases in a standard size?" Jake stood at the open tailgate of the vehicle, facing a confusing array of odd shaped boxes and luggage. He continued to try to get the boxes to fit, and thought about how these boxes had become a metaphor for his life. He never seemed to be able to fit all the things that were precious to him into his life properly. Life always appeared to be frustrating jumble of cares and responsibilities. Trying to keep them together used up almost all of his time. Little was left to enjoy those things and people he strove to keep close. Now, he was helping one of the most precious of those people to leave. He remembered his transition to college and harbored no illusions. He saw the look in her eyes and knew she would only be back to visit, she would no longer live under his roof. The thought of less responsibilities to juggle comforted him none. His sole comfort over the subject came from how she would blossom and grow in the coming years. Holding that thought, he crawled into the SUV to continue the packing.

* * *

Helen held a checklist in her hands as she shuttled back and forth between Jake at the SUV, Quinn preparing in her room, and Daria bringing her belongings down. She cradled the cell phone between her ear and left shoulder.

"Eric, you will have to find somebody else to take care of that this weekend…Because I will be in Boston…We're driving Daria to college…No. I can't delay the starting date…I will talk to you later…Good bye."

"Damn that man." Helen crossly dropped the cell phone in her pocket and scanned the checklist again. Helen mentally assessed the situation. She had packed luggage for herself and Jake, so she knew that was taken care of. Quinn was yelling about her one suitcase. Jake was a basket case trying to pack the SUV. Daria once again proved to be the calm eye of the storm. Quietly and efficiently bringing down her boxes as if there nothing unusual was happening. Helen sat down on one of the sofa sections and watched her daughter. She thought about how much of an enigma her eldest daughter was. A hard, almost cold, facade protected a soul sometimes as fragile as crystal. That same facade could appear indifferent, while the woman within was tremendously caring and capable of going to great lengths to help a friend. Helen watched somebody incredibly confident in her intellect, but shy about herself and how others see her. Daria was heading off to a life on her own terms. Facing it with her unique suite of strengths and weaknesses. Helen sighed; her time of guidance was over. She found herself facing this change with her own mix of confidence and concern.

* * *

By late morning, everything had been transferred to the SUV except her last suitcase, which contained immediate need clothes and supplies. She surveyed the room to make sure everything was taken. Satisfied, she moved to one side of the padded walls where a few items were stacked.

"One more thing to do."

Daria used pliers to carefully pull a couple of the securing upholstery nails from the wall, setting them aside in a cup. She placed a square of plywood against the wall; using a craft knife, she cut the fabric around it and carefully peeled it and the padding from the wall. Setting the square against the plywood, she stapled the edges down. She placed the removed upholstery nails into the padding with a small hammer to recreate the original look and feel. Reverently, she placed the board in her suitcase and closed it. She picked it up and walked to the door, where she turned and looked around a final time. Except for the empty shelves and stripped bed, it looked the same as when she first saw it: the padded walls of gray fabric, bars in the windows, television fixed to the ceiling corner, and the hand rail near the door. A place most found cold and forbidding. This room had truly been her home; it had comforted and sheltered her as none of her previous rooms had. When she next looked through this door, all of it would be gone.

"I will miss you, old friend."

Daria dropped her head, slowly turned away, and walked to the stairs.

* * *

The red SUV pulled into the driveway of a house on Howard Drive a little after noon. A young woman in green and black exited from the back seat and walked to the front door of the house. Just before reaching it, the door opened to reveal a young woman in red and black and a tall mid-twenties man in torn jeans and an army surplus khaki t-shirt. The three talked for a couple of minutes. The woman in green hugged the man for a few moments. She pulled away while holding his hands, and spoke a little longer. She turned to the young woman in red and they embraced for a much longer time. The two continued talking as they did. Finally, they separated and said a few final words. The woman in green turned and walked back to the SUV.

As Daria opened the door, Helen turned and asked, "Did you have enough time?"

"Yes." Sadness was clear in her voice

Jake also turned. "I know you'll miss Jane, but it'll only be for a few months, and then both of you will be in Boston."

"I know. I just have to get through those few months."

Quinn smiled a little at her sister. "So, what did they say?"

"They're words said in private. I'll let them stay that way."

Quinn nodded. "I understand."

Daria looked out the window and watched Trent and Jane's receding forms. As the SUV crossed town, Daria watched familiar landmarks slide by.

She removed the silver pen from its box and wrote in her diary:

_**I lived in Highland for many more years than Lawndale, but I've never missed it. I've been here for a little less than three, and will miss calling this town home. I wonder what it will be like to return here as a guest instead of an inmate? Before leaving, I mounted some of the bedroom padding on plywood to take with. I guess it will go over better than taking the front doorknob again.**_

_**The sun is shining bright on the places that have come to be so familiar. The houses and trees along Howard Drive and Glen Oak bring a feeling of warmth. How many times have I walked past them? Not unexpected, I felt nothing when we drove past the high school. There goes Pizza Prince, nourishment for our souls. There had better be good pizza at Raft. The mall. I hardly recognize it. The thought occurs to me how much Quinn will miss it this time next year. We're approaching the interstate and my residency in Lawndale comes to a close.**_

_**I made true friends here; that will always mean a lot. Friends that pulled a better person out of me. I am no longer a complete outcast. But, those friends are scattering away even as I am. In a couple months, only one will remain in town. Another will meet me in Boston. One is with me now. I have Mrs. Blaine's entire life to explore as I begin to explore my own. What a wonderful gift. This town did have something for me after all. **_

_**It's time to start a new stage of my life. I hope it will be as fulfilling as my stay here has been.**_

Daria watched the outskirts of Lawndale fade into the distance as the SUV climbed the on-ramp and sped down the interstate toward Boston.

* * *

Thanks for running commentary from Declaraptor, Isa Yo-Jo, Ranger Thorne, Mike Nassour, kish, Lawndale Stalker during the serialization at PPMB.

Additional thanks to Kristen Bealer, Galen Hardesty, and Robert Nowall for beta reading and detailed commentary.

My thanks to all who have read this series and provide support, comments and suggestions. I hope I have provided a laugh or two and some enjoyment with these.

June 2004  
Revised January 2005


End file.
